Digimon: The dark adventure
by Doctorjaws
Summary: they thought that it was all over, that they were safe and they would live in peace and comfort.  but they were wrong; dead wrong.
1. Chapter 1

**Some quick word before we begin. I do not own the Digimon franchise or its characters they are owned by their respective owners in Japan. There is one only one character in this ongoing series that is purely my own creation. If he bears any similarity to others then it is purely coincidental. This series is set twenty-five afters the end of Digimon 02 (some elements of the epilogue have been acknowledge and some will be dropped silly careers etcetera) and deals with the leftover story-strands of the show. It will be broken into four separate arcs culminating in a finale drawing on from all of the story strands.**

**This will not have a weekly schedule to begin with so the updates will come sporadically but the story will progress. So let us now begin.**

**Digimon The Dark Adventure**

**By Doctorjaws**

**Prologue**

He was falling. Falling so far. Falling through the gat to this prison his enemies had confined him to. As he fell he watched the gate seal shut above and then he crashed into a mound of sand.

He staggered to his feet shaking the sand from his robes and wings. He rose gracefully into air looking for any sign of escape but he could see none


	2. Chapter 2

**Some quick word before we begin. I do not own the Digimon franchise or its characters they are owned by their respective owners in Japan. There is one only one character in this ongoing series that is purely my own creation. If he bears any similarity to others then it is purely coincidental. This series is set twenty-five afters the end of Digimon 02 (some elements of the epilogue have been acknowledge and some will be dropped silly careers etcetera) and deals with the leftover story-strands of the show. It will be broken into four separate arcs culminating in a finale drawing on from all of the story strands.**

**This will not have a weekly schedule to begin with so the updates will come sporadically but the story will progress. So let us now begin.**

**Digimon The Dark Adventure**

**By Doctorjaws**

**Prologue**

He was falling. Falling so far. Falling through the gate to this prison his enemies had confined him to. As he fell he watched the gate seal shut above and then he crashed into a mound of sand.

He staggered to his feet shaking the sand from his robes and wings. He rose gracefully into air looking for any sign of escape but he could see none just miles and miles of ocean. The ocean was calm, undisturbed and completely black and no exit in sight.

"Curse those children" he growled. "They will suffer for this. They will SUFFER", he screamed at the thin air but there was no response. It was as if the universe was mocking him with its silence and so he was left alone to muse over his thoughts of revenge. He would return to the human world he vowed to him self and he would burn those children and their digimon alive. Hew would delight in their screams of agony and the pain that would last until their deaths. Then he would tear down the cities and drive the humans into squalor and misery for all eternity. These dark thoughts amused him greatly and he began to laugh softly at first and out loud.

As the echoes of his laughter faded away he suddenly noticed he had begun to draw attention to himself. The once calm ocean had no begun to churn and froth violently. Figures began to emerge, crawling on to the sand and then raised themselves to full height. They could have been no larger than humans; theirs bodies were bulky but their limbs were long and webbed, their heads sat ungainly on their shoulders like rocks, their skin looked like it was made of vapour but glistened form the water and their golden eyes just stared at him in wonder. Then the one at the head of the group began to speak.

"You are not permitted to be here demon lord! Why have you disturbed the realm of our great master?"

In the back of his mind Daemon began to feel his great temper cloud his judgement. "Vermin," he roared "you are just pathetic excuses for creatures. Why should I answer to such wastes of life? Evil Inferno!"

From his hands flames sprung forth and engulfed the creatures and they began to screech in terror. They fled form back into the water and Daemon opened his wings and began to follow them over the sea.

"Evil Inferno! Evil Inferno!" he shouted again and again sending more burst of fire into the water but it only began to churn ever more violently. Then a great claw was raised form the water and clamped shut around him and began squeezing tightly crushing Daemon's wings against his chest.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" A deep voice reverberated all around. It shook Daemon to his core and for the first time in many years he was cowed even frightened. This being was powerful not just in terms of pure strength but also his hold over minds was terrible too.

"Why have you come here little digimon?" the voice asked in soothing almost sing-song voice and Daemon felt compelled to answer him.

"I-I—I was marooned here by the humans. The Digidestined banished me to this place and I cannot escape."

"No! There is no escape. You are in my power now and at my mercy. You will never leave now until I say so! Now tell me; who are you?"

"I am Daemon, of the seven great demon lords."

"You have awoken early then lord of wrath!" The voice let out a low merciless chuckle "You have defied the instructions of your brethren and sought power solely for your self."

"It was my right," Daemon protested weakly "Lucemon he …."

"SILENCE!" the voice roared and daemon let out a scream of terror. "Your petty justifications are meaningless to me now. You sought to harness the dark spore for yourself didn't you?"

"How did you …."

"I know of the dark spores and I know of their potential but it is meaningless. In a few days the dark spores will become redundant and the Digidestined will triumph once again. Now listen to me!"

The claw slightly loosened allowing Daemon to breathe more easily and then the voice resumed. "I will soon begin to set my own plans in motion but patience is required. I have waited for millenniums for my uprising so I shall wait for a few more decades. You shall remain here at my side. In term you shall become one of my heralds and you shall return to your home. And with moderation you shall have your revenge. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Daemon whispered "yes I understand.

"Good!" The claw began to slide back into the ocean dragging Daemon with it. "Now it is time for us to truly become acquainted."

Daemon barely managed to scream before he was submerged into the dark ocean.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: To avoid confusion about the previous two chapters I feel obliged to explain what happened. When I tried to upload the prologue I accidentally uploaded the incomplete version by mistake. So I have uploaded the full version as the next chapter. Like I said before this is my first ongoing fic so there are bound to be some errors like this. So with that in mind let us begin the story proper.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of the characters. They are the property of their respective owners in Japan.**

**Chapter 1: Unwelcome Homecoming**

As T.K. departed the plane with Patamon on his shoulders he found very glad that he was back home. Back in Tokyo with its bustling overcrowded streets and Digimon hub capital of the world. He had found that in some parts of America people had still never properly met a Digimon and would often stare curiously at Patamon but here Digimon were more common and treated as part of everyday life. So no one raised and eyebrow as he and Patamon passed their way through check-ins and baggage claims talking and laughing all the way. They went through the arrivals area past all the families embracing and welcoming back friends and headed on straight to the pre-booked taxi whose driver was waiting for them.

"Mr. Takaishi," the taxi driver extended a hand which T.K. shook "if you would care to follow me." The man led T.K. outside where a small car was waiting, the driver helped lift T.K.'s suitcases inside and they were soon off.

"My kids love your novels," the driver said trying to make polite conversation, "we're currently mid way through the second book about the digital world but personally I don't think it's as fun as the first. It all seemed more innocent back then!"

"Back then I was only eight," T.K. responded briskly "I was trying to draw on from how I had reacted at the time, what it felt like to be there during that summer. The events of the second novel were form appoint where everything was less black and white. It was more grey and ambiguous."

T.K. sighed sadly! He had been making speeches like this all throughout his trip to America and he was starting to sound like a broken record. "Listen no offence, but I've just spent two months on tour promoting the book stateside and quiet frankly it's getting kind of boring. Could we talk about something else please?"

"Sure!" responded the driver. They chatted amicably about sports, politics and the crime rate all the rest of the way home. Once T.K. reached his house he headed straight to his bedroom, threw his suitcases on the floor and collapsed onto his bed.

"Jetlag?" enquired Patamon. "You should have tried sleeping on the plane like me."

"Yeah well," yawned T.K. "I'm not like you am I? I don't have this amazing ability to drop off to sleep like a log when I'm not eating or goofing around. Besides s I couldn't sleep because you snore!"

"Oh ha ha ha" replied Patamon dryly. But he before he could say anything further the doorbell rang. T.K. staggered all the way down the stairs and swung the door open. On the front doorstep stood Kari and Gatomon wearing big happy smiles.

"Welcome home!" Kari said proudly and extended a large foil wrapped dish in her hands. "Casserole? It beats getting take-out."

"If it were anyone else I would have said no." T.K. exhaled loudly. "Come in! Come in!" soon the four of them were bustling around in T.K.'s kitchen fixing up an evening meal.

"So how was America?"

"Good. The books sold millions of copies but all the promotional Q and A's I could have done without."

"How is my brother?"

"Tai's fine though very busy. There was some sort of incident evolving a Geckomon concert that he had smooth over but he sends his regards. Mimi also sends her love as well. She didn't have anything major to work with whilst I was in New York so she find time to have lunch with me. Then she dragged me to one of those fashion shows that her rivals make just so she can find someone else to sneer at them with her. I bet Tai has to keep making excuses just so she can't rope him into them."

Both Kari and Gatomon laughed loudly at this then removed the casserole form the microwave so T.K. could start dishing it out. As they brought their plates to the table and began to eat T.K. couldn't help but notice that Kari seemed unwell. She was paler then usual and there were dark bags under her eyes. She also seemed to have an involuntary shudder as she was cold. However he pushed those worries aside for the time being and asked casually "So, how's everything been back here.

"It's been fine," said Kari with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Now that the exams have finished school work has been quiet but I'm still very busy. I went to visit your dad in the hospital and he seems to be okay, his health's improving. I also bumped into Matt there. Once your dad gets discharged Matt's planning to take some time off from work to help get back on his feet."

T.K. merely nodded grimly. Ever since his father had been diagnosed with cancer he and Matt had been on tenterhooks running around looking after him. If his dad died he knew Matt would be devastated having stuck with him for so long. He decided the best thing to do would be to get in touch with Matt tomorrow and arrange to visit his dad at the hospital.

"Anyway," Kari said bringing him out of his grim thoughts, "it's good that your back home now. I really did miss you T.K.!"

For the first time Kari really looked sincere in what she said and T.K. felt extremely moved. "I really missed you too." he said softly. He leant across the table and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed slightly and the two of them resumed eating.

"NO! HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME. DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME! NO!" T.K. was jerked awake by the sound of Kari's screams. He leapt out of bed and fumbled for the light switch. As the light came on he saw Kari tossing and turning in her sleep screaming in terror.

"Kari wake up!" he yelled in panic shaking her by the shoulders. "It's me T.K. wake up. It's just a dream, wake up. Wake up!" But still Kari continued to writhe and scream. Then suddenly Gatomon and Patamon burst into the room and ran to the bed, Gatomon then bent low and sank her teeth into Kari's shoulder. Kari awoke with a yelp of fright.

"I'm sorry I had to do that," Gatomon explained as she slunk off the bed "but it is the only to get her to wake up.

"It's fine. It's fine." T.K. responded as he held the shivering Kari close to him. "Kari, what happened?"

"My nightmare's" whispered Kari, "the dark ocean, those creatures they're back. For the past week it's been nothing but those dreams. Being dragged under the water looking into …. those eyes!"

"But they stopped years ago. How can they be back?"

"I don't know, but they're getting worse each night. It's like they're getting stronger like they're coming back to take us.

"Hey its okay, its okay," T.K. whispered soothingly. "listen they are not taking you anywhere. They'd have to fight their way past all of us first. And all of our friend s and allies. If they show up again we'll send them packing. Right?"

"Right." Kari nodded then broke apart form T.K. and stood up. I think I'll go downstairs make a hot drink. Do you want anything?"

"Just a tea thanks." said T.K., "I'll be down a minute." Crossing the hall to the bathroom he turned on the cold tap and began to splash cold water over his face. So that was it, he thought to himself, nightmare's about the dark ocean. But could that really mean that those things were coming back. Would they try to snatch Kari like they did 25 years ago and what would did they have in mind for the rest of us. As he raised his head to look in the mirror he saw with jolt of horror that he was not staring at his own reflection. Staring back at him was nothing a pair of pupil less red eyes.

"You cannot keep her form me forever beacon of hope!" a cold voice resounded in T.K.'s ears. "I will come for her soon but you must die tonight." The eyes withdrew form the mirror and instead something else began to emerge. A tall gangly body with glowing golden eyes began to crawl through the mirror itself. T.K. back ed against the door as the thing fell to the floor raised it self and then began to make its way towards T.K.

"The beacon of hope must die. The beacon of hope must die."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes: ****so I am going to keep progressing as much as I can with this story. Please feel free to review and comment on this, all opinions are welcome.**

**Disclaimer I do not own Digimon. It is the property of its owners in Japan.**

**Chapter 2: Gathering Forces**

T.K. stood with his back flat against the bathroom door as the creature lumbered ever closer. Then he began to hear lightly padded footsteps rushing up behind him on the other side. Hoping that this was rescue he yanked open the door and flattened himself up against the wall.

"_Lightning paw!_" Gatomon lunged into the room with a powerful punch that sent the creature sprawling whilst T.K. took the opportunity to back out into the landing where Kari and Patamon were waiting. The creature knocked Gatomon back and staggered towards the door again.

"_Boom Bubble!_" The burst of hot air form Patamon hit the creature full in the face and swerved blindly allowing Gatomon to attack him again slamming him back against the wall shattering the bathroom sink and mirror. Almost as instantly as the mirror shattered the creature vanished. The four of them all breathed a sigh of relief and sank against walls on the landing.

"Are you ok?" enquired Kari resting a hand on T.K.'s shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine. But how they hell did that thing find us? And how the hell did it come through the mirror?"

"I don't know. The last time they appeared they just started fading in at the end of corridors. This mirror trick is new. Listen why don't we go downstairs? I don't think either of us are going to get anymore sleep and you should probably turn of the water main to the bathroom."

"Yeah, good idea." Replied T.K. and the two of them made their way down to the living room. Whilst Kari fixed them two cups of coffee T.K. made his way gingerly into the garage worried that the creature might start popping out of every shadow. He hastily shut off the water main and backed out his eyes darting around nervously. As the two of them sat down on the sofa Kari spoke up again.

"Those things will probably be back again. I don't think we should stay here after tonight."

"You're right tomorrow I'll go find us somewhere else to stay, maybe away form the city."

"Also," continued Kari, "those things may start attacking the other dig destined. In the morning I'm going to start warning everyone else and try to meet up with Izzy, see if he can explain what the hell is going on.

"Ok let's do that. But I think we should stay together so we can't be attacked on our own. And if you're alone they might try to pull you into that other world again."

"I'm not sure," responded Kari, "The first time I went there I was just pulled out of thin air and the second time Ken, Yolei and I just walked through a portal without realising it." Suddenly Kari gave a little jolt of surprise. "Wait an minute; Ken and Yolei! They were pulled into the dark ocean as well. What if they've had the same nightmares as well? What if they've been attacked too?"

"You're right. We'll go speak to them directly tomorrow."

"And stay with them just in case those creatures show up," added T.K., "there is safety in numbers!"

"Yes" Kari yelled joyfully throwing her arms around T.K. but all of a sudden there was aloud roar of fury that came from the large mirror hanging over the mantelpiece. They both jumped apart to the glowing red eyes glaring at them.

"You cannot escape me that easily," a voice boomed, "I will find no matter where you hide or how many times you fight back. This must end now!" From the mirror creatures began to emerge, not just one but at least a dozen all scrambling for ward to get at them. Almost immediately Gatomon and Patamon leapt in front of their partners to defend them and all four of them made a hasty retreat. As they reached the door to the hall Patamon yelled "_Boom Bubble_" and the force of his attack shattered the mirror. But this time instead of fading away the creatures remained but no more of them came through.

"Look's like we have to take these ones out the old fashioned way!" purred Gatomon and she leapt at the nearest one punching it to the ground. "I could use a little extra muscle here!" she added.

"Right!" T.K. said in agreement raising his digivice. "Patamon digivolve!"

"_Patamon digivolve to …Angemon!"_

Angemon spread his wings and rose gracefully into the air.

"_Hand of Fate!_" His attack blasted a hole in one of the creature's chests; it fell to the ground screaming as it faded away. Instantly the remaining creatures leapt onto Angemon dragging him to the ground.

"_Angel Staff!_"

"_Lightning Paw!_"

Though the two champion Digimon tried their best to fend of the creatures with their hand-to hand combat it soon became apparent that they were overwhelmed. As the majority of the creatures held off the Digimon three made their way towards T.K. and Kari.

"The bride of light will come with us! The bearer of hope must die."

"NO!" Kari yelled forcefully stepping between the creatures and T.K., "I will not live in fear of you. I will not be intimidated by you. Creatures like you have been terrorising beings like me since the dawn of time. You do it because you think we're weak and you want to be strong. But we are not weak, we are strong! Strong enough to overcome you. I will never surrender to you. I will resist you and your master's hold over you until my last breath." As she said a great burst of light seemed to emulate form her and hen …

"_Gatomon digivolve to … Angewomon!_"

Another burst of light two more creatures vanished and Angewomon shot into the sky like a firework.

"_Celestial Arrow!_" Three arrows soared form her bow each hitting their mark leaving only six creatures remaining.

"_Hand_ _of Fate!_" Another one down and at this point the five remaining creature turned and fled with the two angelic Digimon in hot pursuit.

"_Hand of Fate!_"

"_Celestial Arrow!_"

This continued until all the creatures were gone then Angewomon said "I think we should go back and smash every mirror in the house just to be sure."

"Good idea," replied Angemon and the two flew in the front door. After three minutes of faint smashing noises they emerged. "I think it's safe now!" Angemon said proudly and he and Agnewomon reverted back to Patamon and Gatomon.

"Still not gonna get any sleep now," muttered T.K. picking up Patamon, "hey Kari that was incredible. How did you manage to do that?"

Kari paused a moment before answering. "I think I drew on the light inside of me. The desire to see darkness go away. The same way we were able to get our Digimon to digivolve when we fought Apocalymon remember?"

"Yeah I do! We can add that to the list of things to ask Izzy in the morning. Let's go back inside huh? It's getting cold out here."

The next morning the two of them stood looking haggard an tired in the lobby of an expensive laboratory. They were currently trying to deal with an irritable receptionist.

"We just need to speak to Dr. Izumi!" said T.K. for the fifth time. "Just ten minutes please!"

"Nobody gets to the higher-ups without an appointment."

"Tell him it's T.K. Takaishi and Kari Kamiya. And tell him it's urgent." Kari snapped.

The receptionist caught the desperate almost dangerous gleam in Kari's eyes and hastily made a phone call. A minute later Izzy was striding across the lobby towards them, smartly dressed in a suit and white lab coat. His long-ago messy red hair was now smooth and orderly and he had a gleaming smile on his face.

"Good morning," he said cheerily embracing both of them, "sorry about all this but new staff takes a while to get used to the fact that I'm always available when an old friend says it's urgent." He led them up a flight of stairs to his laboratory on the first floor all the while chatting about his work. "And so," he continued pushing through the doors to his lab, "I now have twenty working portal links to our separate labs in the digital world running at once. Prodigious huh?"

"Yeah that's great Izzy," replied Kari, "we may need all the help we can get with our current problem." The two of them took two available seats whilst Patamon and Gatomon sat oin the desk next to Izzy's Digimon partner Tentamon. "So what exactly is going on," enquired the nervous sounding insect, "you do sound very stressed!"

It took Kari twenty minutes to explain everything that had happened whilst Izzy and Tentamon listened intently and Tentamon occasionally let out an exclamation of surprise. When she had finished Izzy sat in silence for about a minute then said ponderously; "Curious! Very curious, I don't know how to explain the mirror trick these creatures don't seem to operate along the same as most Digimon do when crossing over to the real world. They usually have to use a gate or they try to just shatter the barrier between both worlds."

"But Izzy these things are not real Digimon. They don't use any form of attacks and they don't dissolve into data when they are destroyed. I know we are asking a lot of you but we need your help to find out what these things really are and how we can properly stop them."

"Ok," said Izzy, "here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to get hold of Gennai and see what he can tell me. Then I'm going to have the rest of my colleagues do a search of both the real world and the digital world to see if there are any unusual signatures or portals or gates. But that's going to take time. In the meantime I suggest we get hold of the other Digidestined so that we can properly mobilise together."

"We were thinking along the same lines," added T.K., "we're going to meet up with Yolei and Ken this afternoon and see if the creatures have tried to get to them. Plus if they do show up then we can lend a hand."

"We're also going to contact; Tai, Matt and Sora." chipped in Kari.

"Good I'll try ringing everyone else then," said Izzy turning back to his desk, "I'll get on with this straight away so you can go ahead with your plans." Just as Kari and T.K. reached Izzy called out; "Oh just a precaution but maybe you should try getting rid of or staying away form any large scale mirrors."

Once Izzy and Tentamon were alone they hastily began typing some commands into the computer until Gennai's face appeared on screen. "Izzy," he said bemusedly, "what's up?"

"The dark ocean!" said Izzy curtly "It's starting to resurface. I need all the information you have about that dimension."

"That will take a bit of time," replied Gennai, "once I've gathered up all my data I will bring it along with me to the real world. Expect me no later than tonight."

Gennai hang up abruptly and Izzy began making another cal this time to the Digimon general emergency hospital in the Continent of Server. A receptionist answered the video call.

"Good morning! How may I help you?"

"You can connect me to Dr. Kido, chief of staff." said Izzy impatiently!

"I'm sorry sir but Dr. Kido is extremely busy currently and …"

"Tell him it's Izzy Izumi and it's and emergency." Izzy yelled.

"Er yes sir." Said the receptionist nervously and thirty seconds later Joe Kido came to the screen looking flustered and overworked.

"Joe I think we have a serious crisis on our hands," Izzy said swiftly, "now T.K. and Kari came to me and explained that we may be under threat from…"

"Izzy," Joe cut across him, "I already have a serious crisis on my hands. This morning a mysterious Digimon attacked a village of Geckomon. We've had to admit hundreds of them to the hospital and I'm currently swamped trying to deal with these cases. Look I'll try to be there as soon as I can ok. Bye!" And Joe hung up.

Izzy hastily dug into his pocket for his cell phone. After finding the number he needed he rang dialled and waited tapping his foot on the floor until:

"Motomiya Noodles," a voice hollered down the phone, "where we can mix noodles with just about anything. We're not available right now so please leave your message after the beep!"

Izzy groaned loudly at the beep and said; "Davis it's Izzy. We have an emergency on our hands here. Listen when you get this message just call Kari ok?" and Izzy hung up then began making more phone calls.

In the outside of a busy courtroom a young lawyer waited nervously as her boss Cody Hida returned form a quiet corner of the room slipping his mobile back into his pocket. "Bad news," Cody explained, "an emergency has just come up and Armadillomon and I need to leave immediately. I need to you to oversee the trial for the next couple of days okay?" Before his assistant could reply Cody had already turned and headed towards the exit with Armadillomon at his heel.

"So what's the problem Cody?" enquired Armadillomon.

"Something to do Kari and that strange subdemension she was once trapped in," Responded Cody calmly, "I just need to collect my digivice form home then get in touch with T.K. to see what's what."

In the faculty office of the computer science department at Tokyo University Yolei Ichijouji was reclining in her chair, having just finished marking paper, when her mobile rang. "Hello," she said brightly, pressing it to her ear.

"Yolei its Kari."

"Kari," Yolei exclaimed in surprise sitting bolt upright in her chair, "hey how are you? We haven't spoken in ages. I was going to ring you at the weekend but you're here now. What's up?"

"Something bad," Kari explained, "listen Yolei, I know that this all very last minute but we need to meet at your house. I'll explain everything once we're there."

"Ok," replied Yolei sewriuously, "give me three quarters of an hour to get home and then come over."

"That's fine," came the response, "and Yolei please please get rid of all the mirrors in your house and call Ken and het him to come home to. I promise I'll explain everything soon."

"Yes, yes I'll do that." Yolei hung up on Kari then hastily dialled her husband Ken. After a few seconds his voice came through."

"You're ringing early. I'm not halfway through the morning shift yet. What is it?"

"Ken, Kari just called saying something was amiss. She's going to meet me at home and you need to be there to hear what she has to say."

"Ok," Ken responded practically, " give me an hour to sort something out and I'll be there alright. Love you!"

As the line went dead Yolei leapt out of her chair and grabbed her coat. "Let's go Hawkmon!" she yelled bounding out of the door.

In a cold looking room in the long-term ward of the hospital Matt Ishida sat by his sleeping father alone with his thoughts. His father had been here for six months and Matt had taken every opportunity to visit him. He was currently weighing the possibility that his father could quiet possibly die and he was starting to worry what he would do. He wouldn't be alone of course; he had his wife Sora, their two children, his brother T.K., their mum and of course Gabumon. There was no escaping the fact that he and his father had stuck together through thick and thin since his parent's divorce and this transition would be painful. Ashe was musing the door to ward was flung open and he looked up to Sora standing there her hands on her hips.

"Is your phone on?" she demanded angrily.

"No! Why?"

"T.K. has been trying to ring for over an hour and a half. He eventually rang me and explained the situation."

"What situation? What's going on?"

"There is some sort of crisis about to happen. We are all meant to meet at Izzy's lab so he can fill us in. We have to leave now, Matt."

"Okay, okay!" yelled Matt leaping to his feet. He hastily bent down and kissed his slumbering father on the forehead. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he whispered and sprinted down beside his wife whilst Gabumon kept pace.

Tai Kamiya stood in the departure lounge of JFK international airport. Since he had been woken by the call form his sister describing the urgent situation he had managed to hastily dress and pack a small suitcase, found and booked a ticket on the late night flight back to Tokyo and then he an Agumon had raced to the airport to get there in time. Now as the stood waiting to board he could a loud shrill voice calling "Tai Tai! Agumon wait for us!"

He turned and saw that it was Mimi an Palmon running pell mell towards them . The two of them stopped out of breath beside him.

"Sorry we're so late Tai. Had trouble getting past security." Mimi wheezed.

"Have you water for my roots?2 enquired Palmon

"No but there should be some on the plane," replied Agumon.

"So Tai do you know any more about this emergency." asked Mimi.

"No," replied Tai, " I spoke to Izzy just before I checked in. He'll have a car waiting for us when we arrive and he'll explain everything once we meet face-to-face. I just hope we can get there before anything bad happens to Kari.

Agumon squeezed Tai's hand. "Don't worry Tai," he whispered, "she'll be fine."

As Mimi patted Tai on the shoulder reassuringly a voice over the tannoy said, "Flight 174 to Tokyo is now boarding at Gate 28. All passengers proceed to Gate 28.

"Come Mimi that's us." And the four broke into a run again.

In another place Daemon watched the slow but steady gathering of the Digidestined and growled. "We should have used a greater measure of force when attempting to dispatch the first two. Now they will be fully mobilised against us. You should have sent me instead of those lowly menials of yours."

"Patience Daemon patience," said a cold measure voice, "that attack was merely a test of strength. I wished to see the level of power that the Digidestined possess and that are not at full strength. That is good, it will make things easier. Besides there is till time to take action before they are all gathered together. I shall launch another attack but this time I will send one with considerable more power.

"Let me go," Daemon begged, "please I shall eliminate them for you. And I will bring you the bride of light and sweep anyone who defies your great will aside. I shall …"

"

"ENOUGH!" roared the voice! "You seek only to gain your revenge for your imprisonment here. You forget your place Daemon, you are my servant now. You will do MY bidding. I shall send one whose loyalty I can most definitely vouch for. He will accomplish this task for me. You have a different task, one of great importance. Now listen very carefully …"

As he bustled about his house searching for his papers Gennai heard a knocking on his front door. Very cautiously he walked towards and turned the knob. Suddenly his door was swung open and he was blasted back against the wall.

"You!" he whispered in horror staring a the attacker. "By the gods it is you!

"_Evil Inferno!_"

The last sound Gennai heard was the sound roaring flames and high cold laughter.

**Author's Notes: Well I hope you are all enjoying this story so far. Sorry if you spot any spelling or grammar problems in that last part but my computer is acting up. Next chapter will be coming as soon as possible. Also enjoy this juicy little titbit because I will probably not do it again.**

"**Why is daemon attacking Gennai? Can the Digidestined join forces in time stop the evil master of the Dark Ocean? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

**Thank you and good night. Much love!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes:**

**Sorry for the longer delay in the posting of this chapter, these may become more frequent as the story progresses. Rest assured I still fully intend to finish this fic. So onto the action!**

**Disclaimer = I do not own Digimon etcetera etcetera.**

**Chapter 3 = Six Friends, Six Warriors**

When T.K. rounded his car on the drive up to Ken and Yolei's house he and Kari saw that Yolei was already waiting for them in the doorway. As they went inside the two women kissed each other on the cheek and Yolei gave T.K. a reassuring smile whilst telling them she had removed every mirror she could find. Hawkmon bowed respectfully ushering Gatomon and Patamon into the living room whilst their human partners gossiped in the hall. As they also passed into the living room T.K. scanned the room quickly; nothing much had changed just some sparse furniture and a few framed photos on the mantelpiece. Pride in place was the family photo; Ken in full dress uniform with Yolei in a deep purple dress to match her hair and their two children Kyomi (aged 10) and Sam (aged 6).

"So," said Yolei once they were all seated, "what the heck is going on?"

"For the past week the creatures that inhabit the dark ocean have been plaguing my nightmares." Kari began taking a pause when Yolei gave a gasp of surprise. "But last night T.K. and I were attacked directly by them."

"They somehow managed to come through the mirrors in my house," T.K. explained, "that's why we asked you to get rid of them just in case they try the same thing here. Izzy is still trying to figure out how they managed to do that and he is ringing everyone else up to let them know about the situation."

"The most important thing we wanted to know," continued Kari, "is have you noticed anything strange? Have you or Ken encountered anything similar to what we ..."

"The nightmares!" Yolei blurted out abruptly. "The nightmares have been going on for a few days." Her hands shook as she continued; "At first it started when I woke up and Ken was murmuring in his sleep about drowning. Then they got steadily worse; tossing and turning, a cold sweat and then!" Yolei took a nervous gulp and then went on. "Last night I was dreaming I was standing on a cliff, the cliff in that dimension where we could see the full bay when Gatomon and Hawkmon first DNA digivolved, and I watched as a claw came out of the sea. A giant claw just rose up and came towards me. I woke up with a start and Ken was screaming in his sleep. I shook him awake but his scream had already woken the children. They came into the room and they were babbling about a claw trying to snatch them."

T.K. and Kari listened in stunned silence for the situation was worse than they had a t first suspected. "We had all had the same nightmare," Yolei's voice was barely a whisper now, "but I've tried to act like it's nothing. Trying to stop the kids from worrying and stop my husband from breaking down. Telling them not to let fear run their lives. But I can't keep living in denial can I?" Yolei turned to look directly at Kari; "Why? Why come back now after all these years? What does it want from us?"

"We don't know," said Kari reaching out, taking Yolei's hand and squeezing it gently, "but we won't let them take you, your family or anyone else for that matter. We will work together and come through like we always have!"

"By the skin of our teeth and last minute miracles!" said Yolei with a wry chuckle.

"Not this time," replied T.K. firmly, "this time we will be ready for them. We will band together and prepare to properly face them. And if we do get a miracle? Well all the better for us then."

Kari's phone started ringing. "Speaking of miracles," she said dryly looking at the caller ID, "it's Davis." She answered the phone and said hastily; "Davis where the heck have you been? We couldn't get through to you!" She paused for a few seconds whilst Davis made excuses on the other end. "No look Davis," she said cutting across him, "just get over to Ken and Yolei's house. We'll be waiting for you there. Bye!"

"Ok" said Yolei sounding a little brighter than before, "I'll be in the kitchen fixing you both something to eat. You both look you're about to collapse." T.K. did admit that he felt a bit hungry and whilst Yolei was making sandwiches his phone rang. A glance at the caller ID told him it was Cody.

"Hello!" he said answering the phone.

"T.K.," said Cody's voice down the line, "Izzy gave me a heads-up on the problem. Where are you?"

"Yolei and Ken's house."

"Give me twenty minutes and I'll be there. Goodbye."

Cody hung and T.K. turned to glance over at Kari. "Cody's on his way." he explained.

"So is Davis." She responded as Yolei came in with two plates of sandwiches which she handed to them saying "Ken will be home as soon as he can!" she went back into the kitchen for more sandwiches for the Digimon and herself.

As the humans chatted amicably about T.K.'s trip to the USA the Digimon munched noisily on their sandwiches. Once they had eaten their fill Hawkmon spoke up; "So you managed to send those ghastly creatures packing last night then."

"Yes," said Gatomon tersely "it just took a large level of power to destroy them. I had to digivolve to the ultimate level to make any impact.

"That would present a problem," agreed Hawkmon. "So far Veemon, Armadillomon, Wormmon and I have been unable to reach that level. We would be at quite a disadvantage."

"But we won't give up will we?" demanded Patamon. "No matter what they throw at us."

"Agreed!" said the other two in unison. Then the doorbell rang. Hawkmon hastily ran to the door and opened it. "Ah hello Cody, Armadillomon, come in, come in." He led the two back in to the living room and there were more greetings between the humans whilst Armadillomon joined the circle of Digimon discussing the fight that was bound to come.

"DNA digivolving is still an option right?" enquired Armadillomon.

"Yes but it will cut our numbers in half." said Patamon, "So maybe we should avoid using it except as a last resort."

"Or relegate that ask only to Veemon and Wormmon since they are the only ones who can reach mega." cut in Gatomon.

"You were able to reach mega once," corrected Hawkmon, "you and Patamon, I remember."

"Once! And we were barely able to hold that form before we ran out of energy. We did it just to release the golden digi-eggs.!" protested Gatomon.

"We didn't even get the chance to test an attack!" added Patamon.

And the debate continued on; each of them testing ideas until the front door opened and Ken and Wormmon entered. As Wormmon joined the heated debate Ken crossed over to his friends; shaking hands with T.K. and Cody, giving Kari a hug and finally giving his wife a quick kiss. "So I take it you all know about the current problems were facing?" he enquired.

"Yes," said Kari, "and it has been my problem too."

Ken leaned forward and said seriously "Did you hear his ... its voice?"

"Yes, what did it say to you?"

Ken shuddered then said; "It said that I owed him! That I had to pay the price for the choices I made as a child. That if I didn't pay it then my family would."

Everyone stared in silence for a minute then a loud knock on the door made them all jump. "I'll get it." said Ken making his way across the living room. He opened the door revealing Davis wearing a loose casual suit and Veemon looking extremely irritated.

"Hey Ken," Davis yelled loudly embracing his old friend, "how are you doing?" Ken gave a loud sigh and returned the hug.

"I'm doing fine Davis but you are late!"

"Oh cut me some slack," said Davis jokingly, "I am getting into the outside world meeting new people and selling noodles." Davis pranced into the living room and said loudly; "Sorry about the delay in getting here people but I was on a date. Her name is Lily and we went ..."

"Davis!" Kari snapped. "We have a major problem to deal with. I'm sorry that we have to interrupt everybody's personal lives but this is serious. Please Davis I'm asking you to just work with us! Please?"

The big goofy smile faded off his face and Davis seemed to shrink a little. "I'm sorry Kari; I didn't mean to upset anyone. I'll just uh," and his voice faded. Ken walked over and put a reassuring arm around his shoulder. "It's okay Davis," he said gently, "your here now we can get on with things."

As Davis sat down whilst Ken and Kari filled him in T.K. felt the awkwardness of Davis' arrival fade away. Out of all of them Davis was closest to Ken (since they had been best friends for so long) and Kari, whom he still cared about deeply despite there was no teenage romantic yearnings left, so for them he would crawl over coals or throw his noodle cart in the river. Davis always the peppy knucklehead as a kid seemed sometimes lost and alone now as an adult. He had trouble making newer friends and his job was always keeping him busy. Finding the right kind of woman to start a relationship with clearly meant a lot to him. T.K. made a mental note to himself that when this was all over to take some time out and give him the support he deserved as a friend.

However the Digimon felt different about the situation. "So what is Davis's new girlfriend like?" enquired Hawkmon.

"Annoying," snapped Veemon, "she just smiles and it's so false. But he can't see that. I just have this gut feeling that something is not right about her. That something else is going on here. And he won't even listen to me."

"Maybe it's just a phase," offered Wormmon kindly, "perhaps they'll break up soon and Davis will find a new more suitable girlfriend."

"He's just so lonely."

"Not all humans had a clear path together in life like T.K. and Kari or Yolei and Ken." explained Gatomon sadly.

"All we can do is stay by their side and always be their friends." said Armadillomon sagely

"Well said!" responded Gatomon.

"I will stand by you on that!" chipped in Hawkmon

"Words of wisdom!" added Patamon.

"Hear hear!" agreed Wormmon.

"Yeah that's true." said Veemon with a sad sigh.

As the afternoon progressed on Ken left to pick up Kyomi and Sam from school. Yolei was on the verge of picking up the phone to call Izzy when the entire front wall of the house suddenly collapsed. The digidestined and their Digimon partners scrambled to their feet and grouped together. Through the newly created thick cloud of dust a tall figure emerged. He was a humanoid with waxy pale face and gleaming golden eyes. Unkempt black hair hung down to his shoulder and his body was wrapped up in black cape that covered his entire body. In one hand he carried a long black sword and he extended his other hand towards them.

"Bride of Light!" he said to Kari. "My name is Morphmon. My master requests your presence!"

Veemon instantly lunged at him with his signature _Vee Head-Butt_ but Morphmon merely swatted him aside with a simple fling of his arm, then a well aimed _Lightning Paw_ from Gatomon knocked him back on to the street and the other Digimon followed her. They began to circle Morphmon in group trying to land an attack on him but he merely dodged or blocked them. Then Gatomon aimed for another _Lightning Paw_.

"_Sphere of Despair_!" In Morphmon's hand a single crackling ball of black energy appeared which he hurled at Gatomon. It caught her in the chest and she fell limp to the ground. Kari nearly made a break for her but Davis and T.K. managed to hold her back. "Don't," T.K. yelled desperately, "he's just trying to goad you into doing something reckless!"

"That's it," growled Davis fumbling for his Digivice, "Veemon let's put this guy down!"

"Patamon digivolve and send him packing!" added T.K.

"_Veemon digivolve to ...Exveemon!"_

"_Patamon digivolve to ...Angemon!"_

"Ah! A challenge!" saidMorphmon his lips curling into a toothy grin as he lunged at Angemon his sword raised.

"_Shadow Blade!"_

"_Angel Staff!"_

Angemon managed to parry Morphmon's sword's _Shadow Blade_ attack but he was pushed back several feet. Then Exveemon attacked managing to land several blows that sent Morphmon sprawling.

"Gotcha that ti..."

"_Shadow Blade!"_

The attack sent Exveemon to his knees and as Morphmon was about to attack again Angemon flew in grabbing Morphmon intending to fly him away from the rest of them.

"Perfect!" hissed Morphmon. "_Morph to Angemon! Hand of Fate!"_

The digidestined could only stare in shock. Where Morphmon had been there was now another Angemon that attacked the real one freeing the doppelganger. The duplicate looked exactly like the real one, down to the last detail.

"It hurts to be on the receiving end of that, doesn't it?" enquired the fake Angemon, even his voice was the same. "_Hand of Fate!" "Hand of Fate!" "Hand of Fate!"_

He launched these attacks at the other Digimon still in rookie form as they tried to retreat with the unconscious Gatomon then dived at Angemon. As the two of them grappled it became impossible to tell who the real one was and who the fake was.

"What do we do?" asked Yolei.

"We have no choice but to attack both of them at the same." responded Cody.

"No!" protested T.K.

"I'm sorry T.K. but we can't afford to take any chances. Armadillomon digivolve!"

"_Armadillomon digivolve to ... Ankylomon!"_

Ankylomon charged at the two Angemon whilst Exveemon staggered to his feet in order to assist him.

"_Tail Hammer!"_

"_Vee Laser!"_

Both attacks crippled the two Angemon but one staggered to his feet and changed back into Morphmon.

"Good," he hissed at them, "But that won't be enough. _Sphere of Despair_!"

His attack struck Exveemon sending him flying back until he crashed into the upstairs of Ken and Yolei's house. With a manic gleam in his eyes Morphmon then lunged at the digidestined his hand outstretched. Before he could snatch Kari though Ankylomon managed to block him.

"_Shadow Blade!" "Shadow Blade!" _His sword struck Ankylomon again and again until Angemon and Exveemon both launched another _Hand of Fate_ and _Vee Laser_ attacks at his him. As he staggered back in agony Ankylomon swung around and his _Tail Hammer_ caught him in the chest. Then Hawkmon sent a _Feather Strike_ that cut him across the forehead and Gatomon leapt up at him to punch another _Lightning Paw_ into his face and down he went like a tonne of bricks. All the champion Digimon stood out of breath, panting heavily as Morphmon very slowly raised himself to full height again. There was no sign of any of the injuries they had inflicted upon him anywhere.

"The master was right," he said, "you are not at full strength yet. If you were you would not be so exhausted already and I am fine still strong and ready to fight. If you continue to fight me you will hasten your inevitable demise. But you can save yourselves for the moment if you hand over Kari, the bride of light and my future Queen."

"That is not an option!" screamed Gatomon.

"Very well," replied Morphmon, "perhaps your deaths now would be mercy killings considering what fate has in store for you and your kind." He raised his sword and came at them again. The champion Digimon all swerved around him trying to drive him away but he held his ground and it soon became apparent that he was still not exerting himself whilst they were starting to tire. Then he leapt above them into the air.

"_Morph to Exveemon_!" The fake Exveemon landed in the middle of them again and targeted Gatomon. "_Vee laser_!"

As the attack knocked Gatomon out of the fight again the real Exveemon attacked his clone and the two grappled. This time however before the other Digimon could attack both versions the fake Exveemon hurled the real one into Angemon and Ankylomon. Then changing back into Morphmon he made his way towards the digidestined where only Hawkmon stood guard over. However before Hawkmon could attack or digivolve another _Sphere of Despair_ form Morphmon put him down.

"Now my Queen," enquired Morphmon, "perhaps you would like to come with me now? Your friends' struggles have been valiant but futile. They cannot stand in the way of me and my master's will. Come with me Kari."

T.K. took a protective step in front of Kari followed by closely by the others. "You can go back to hell!" retorted Davis.

"You would sacrifice your own lives for her humans? Of course all things must give their lives in the name of the cause of light."

Kari let out a small gasp as her mind started mulling over Morphmon's words. The main she had been always been afraid of as a Digidestined was when people valued her safety more than others. She remembered when Wizardmon sacrificed his life to protect her and Gatomon from Myotismon. And when Tai had been so desperate to save her back when she had fallen ill whilst being chased by the Dark Masters. Would it always be like this she wondered, with their lives always under constant threat. What if this time someone died again protecting her. Maybe Gatomon, T.K. or Tai. Perhaps her worries had shown on her face for her head sank low with shock then T.K., looking around and seeing her, grabbed her hand and whispered; "Don't you dare let him talk you into giving yourself up. He's trying to play the moral high ground to get you to surrender like Myotismon did." Then T.K. yelled with full force at Morphmon; "We are never surrendering Kari to you!"

"Then I shall remove her from behind you corpses!" Morphmon raised the sword again; "_Shadow Blade_!"

"_Spiking Strike_!" Stingmon now stood before Morphmon, his _Spiking Strike_ attack acting as a sword blocking Morphmon's _Shadow Blade_. "Run!" he yelled as he forced Morphmon back launched into the air and began his kicking attack. The digidestined seized the opportunity and broke ranks and ran up the street where Ken was waiting in the car with his and Yolei's children. With some difficulty they all squeezed in; T.K., Kari and Cody in the back, Davis in the boot and Yolei in the front holding on to her children for dear life. The other Digimon staggered to their feet and took defensive positions between Morphmon and the car.

"You cannot outrun or escape me," growled Morphmon, "I will hunt you down and take Kari back with me."

"Like hell you will!" growled Exveemon.

"We will find a way to send you back to the beach." hissed Gatomon.

"And make sure you stay there." added Angemon.

"So I suggest you give it up!" finished Stingmon.

Morphmon merely chuckled. "Such bravado," he sneered, "but it is ultimately futile. You still cannot stop me. You can barely stand upright. Kari will eventually come with me and now you have also brought me the Fallen Emperor as well."

"What?" demanded Stingmon.

"Your partner is the Fallen Emperor," replied Morphmon, "he utilised certain gifts from my master in order to help him in his attempt to conquer the Digital World. Now he must pay the debt he owes my master. That is unless you want to try and stop me."

Stingmon lunged at Morphmon who merely made another slash with his _Shadow Blade_ and Stingmon fell to the floor. Ken made an instinctive move to leave the car but Yolei grabbed his arm and whispered "Don't you dare!" then said, "Hawkmon do you think you could help them?"

"Leave it to me." said Hawkmon boldly. With that he left the car, drew himself up to his full height and spread his wings into the air.

"_Hawkmon digivolve to ...Aquilamon!"_

Aquilamon dive-bombed Morphmon "_Blast Rings_!" and whilst Morphmon was distracted;

"_Vee Laser!"_

"_Tail Hammer!"_

"_Hand of Fate!"_

"_Lightning Paw!"_

"_Spiking Strike!"_

Morphmon buckled under the combined attacks and sank to his knees and Angemon turned to face the car and yelled "Take this chance and get out of here!"

Ken spun the car and drove up the street, then onto the main road as everyone lurched around uncomfortably. "Is everyone okay?" he asked nervously.

Yolei nodded fervently still hugging her children tightly. "What about you two?" Ken asked softly.

"I'm fine." whispered Kyomi.

"Dad," whimpered Sam, "what about Wormmon and Hawkmon? We just left them there."

"We'll go back for them Sammy, I promise," replied Ken, "But right now we need help!"

"Everyone else is gathering at Izzy's laboratory," said T.K., "we can go there and get reinforcements."

"Good idea. Davis how are doing back there?"

"Yeah I'm fine," said Davis who had an iron grip on the back seats, "but seriously how powerful was that guy and how are we meant to stop him proper..."

Davis words were cut shot by a loud thud on the roof of the car and suddenly Morphmon's face appeared at the front.

"You will not get away!" he yelled raising his fist to smash the windshield when suddenly Exveemon jumped on top of him sending them both toppling off the car. They hit the road with a loud crack causing the other cars on the road to swerve around, crashing into each other and leading Ken to make a hard swerve to the left and stopping the car with a screech of the brakes and yell of pain from Davis. They all hastily scrambled out of the car and as they looked back the saw that Morphmon had morphed into Exveemon again.

The other Digimon all caught up and began to attack again. But this time the digidestined could only watch in horror as the fight took a turn for the worse. Morphmon, still as Exveemon, took down the real Exveemon with a Vee Laser changed back into Morphmon and attacked the weakened Exveemon in the back with a Sphere of Despair for good measure. He then did the same thing to each successive Digimon in turn. Morph, attack, de-morph and attack again! Morph, attack, de-morph and attack again! This continued until all of the Digimon lay unconscious and back in rookie form at his feet.

"I told you that you could not stop me," he said coldly as he began to stride towards the digidestined. "Now then; Bride of Light, Fallen Emperor you will come with me. The rest of you may remain if you choose but the Bearer of Hope must die!" And he raised his black sword once more.

**Author's Notes: So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are welcome, any tips about how to stage fight sequences are welcome since it has been the more problematic part of writing this chapter. As you might have guessed Morphmon is an original character I have created. I designed to be a separate henchman for the master of the Dark Ocean other than those monsters and Daemon (for whom I have something else in mind). Any similarities he has to other Digimon is purely coincidental or an anyone else's original character is purely coincidental. My character design is partially based of Orochimaru from Naruto and Jonathon Rhys-Meyer's performance as Steerpike in the BBC Gormenghast miniseries.**

**Next chapter will be up soon and thank you all for your support. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:**

**So sorry for another long delay, I hope this chapter will be worth it. So I will proceed with a new chapter following on with some leftover story threads from chapter 2 before carrying on with the cliff-hanger of chapter 3. So let us begin with;**

**Chapter 4 = Charge of the Old Guard**

As the plane flew towards the Pacific Ocean and so on to Japan Tai Kamiya drummed his fingers on the armrest of his seat nervously drawing irritated glances from the woman in the seat next to him. Several seats behind him Mimi fidgeted nervously as the little boy sitting with his mother glanced curiously at Palmon who was perched on Mimi's lap since in her haste to book a ticket Mimi had been unable to get a separate seat for her Digimon partner. Tai had been luckier and had gotten the window seat for Agumon and as he devoured another packet of roasted peanuts the woman next to Tai gave him another angry glance.

"Can I help you with something," demanded Tai, "you know before you have an apoplectic fit."

"Animals. Especially dangerous animals like your Digimon should be kept in cargo or not allowed on this plane at all." the woman replied snootily.

Where once Tai would have responded angrily to this comment he instead swallowed his pride and merely turned away from her. He had a headache caused by his lack of sleep and anxiety about Kari and an argument with a complete stranger would only make it worse. Besides years of diplomatic work had taught him that this was to be expected; many people still reacted nervously or violently around Digimon which was understandable given that certain Digimon like Myotismon had proved serious threats to human existence. But the number of people who had Digimon partners and Digivices of their own was rapidly growing each year all over and Tai began to worry what people who were afraid of Digimon or resented them would do once they started to become minority group. More than anything Tai hoped for and was working towards a golden future where Humans and Digimon could live in a peaceful society but arrogant people like the one now sitting next to Tai were making that gaol even more difficult to reach.

About half an hour later Tai got up to visit the toilet. As he was washing his hands he heard a peculiar hissing noise. He stood still listening; it grew louder it became a funny kind of laboured breathing. It seemed to be coming from behind the mirror. No wait; it was coming from the mirror itself. Tai stared at his reflection in the mirror transfixed by the breathing noise that became a low growl when his image seemed to flicker and vanish replaced by a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Oh my God!" Tai whispered in horror.

"!" a voice roared and an arm shot through the mirror. Tai ducked before it could grab his throat and fell to the ground. He rolled on to his back as a creature began to emerge from the mirror. It was tall with glistening black skin, long arms and legs, a large boulder shaped head and glowing gold eyes. A well aimed kick from Tai struck it right between the eyes and it recoiled howling wildly. This allowed to Tai to get out of his feet and run through the door colliding with an airline stewardess. Before she could ask what was going on she caught a glimpse of the creature and screamed shrilly.

"Shut up!" Tai yelled pushing her out of the way and slamming the door shut on the creature then holding it shut with his back whilst the creature tried to force it's way through. By this time several more staff had appeared and other passengers had stood up to see what the matter. "There is a creature in there," Tai explained to the shocked onlookers, "and it puts everybody in this plane in jeopardy. Please get everybody to the front of the plane and alert the pilots to the situation."

To Tai's immense relief one of the stewards said "Yes sir." And they immediately began to shepherd the terrified passengers away.

"Does anyone have a laptop I can use?" Tai demanded as the creature slammed into the door behind him trying to break it down. As a tired-looking business passed him a laptop the creature began to dig its hands round the door whilst Tai struggled valiantly to keep it shut. Mimi, Palmon and Agumon appeared forcing their way through the fleeing people.

"Stand aside Tai," said Agumon, "I'll fry it with my _Pepper Breath_."

"No Agumon," yelled Tai, "if you let loose an explosive fireball in here you could end up punching a hole in the plane. Then we'd all die."

"So what do we do?" asked Mimi in a panicky voice, "Palmon can't digivolve in here, it's too cramped and she might not be able to fight them off on her own."

"That's probably why they attacked us here," muttered Tai, "they knew we would be vulnerable. But listen to me Mimi I have a plan!"

Before Tai was able to explain about what his plan was the door was ripped off its hinges displaying more of the creatures squeezed inside the tiny bathroom. Palmon moved to the front of the group and raised her hand. "_Poison Ivy!" _ she cried and her fingers becoming vine-like tendrils which struck the creatures like whips, keeping them at bay whilst all four of them backed up the plane. The creatures swarmed out of the bathroom and more followed them, scrambling over the seats and crawling on the ceiling.

"Mimi, keep them held back whilst I go speak to the pilots." Tai ordered, "Agumon you can help Palmon but no fireballs under any circumstances."

"Just hurry Tai!" said Agumon before jumping into the fray with bared fangs. Tai ran down the corridor until he reached the front of the plane where the terrified crowd of passengers were gathered and a man in a pilot's uniform stood.

"Are you the captain?" Tai asked breathlessly. The man nodded and Tai said briskly, "Good. Ok here's the situation; this plane is under attack by creatures similar to Digimon. Now my friend and I along with our Digimon partners are trying to hold them off but we cannot risk a full battle here without destroying the plane and dooming us all which is probably what they want us to do anyway. Now if you set this plane on autopilot then I can open up a portal to a government sanctioned laboratory in the digital world and send you and the passengers there where you'll be safe."

The annoying woman who had sitting next to Tai earlier spoke up angrily; "Safe! Sending us all to the dimension where these disgusting freaks come from in the first place!"

Several other passengers began murmuring in agreement until Tai yelled "Shut the hell up!" and they fell silent. "Put aside your prejudices for five minutes and do as I say. This is the best plan that doesn't involve us all falling to our deaths. Now please trust me." he pleaded imploringly to the captain hoping that common sense and the desire to protect his passengers would convince him to go with Tai's plan.

"Ok, we'll go with your plan!" the captain said grimly then made his way to the cockpit. Tai glanced back to check on Mimi's progress and saw to his horror that the creatures were driving Mimi, Agumon and Palmon ever closer towards them. Knowing that he had very little time left Tai switched the laptop he had borrowed on and hastily logged on to the internet.

"What are you doing?" someone asked over his shoulder.

"Trying to establish contact with one the laboratories we've been running in the digital world so I can open a portal that can take us directly there." Tai explained. Sure enough a video link to the lab came up on screen just as the pilots and the radio operator came to his side and informed him that the autopilot was online. "Good. Now everybody link hands to from a steady chain and whatever happens do not let go." Tai ordered then turned looking for Mimi. With a jolt he realised that Mimi and the creatures were almost on top of them.

Tai instinctively leapt forward to help Mimi and punched the one of the creatures in where he hoped the solar plexus might be. As he did so he felt his Digivice grow warmer inside his pocket. He took it out and saw that is glowing brightly. Without even thinking he aimed it at the creatures and a blinding light burst forth in a shimmering bubble that shot forward pushing and driving all of the creatures back down the plane where they crashed against walls. The entire plane shook from the impact and Tai nearly lost his balance. "Mimi 'port them to the digital world now while we have a chance." Tai yelled, "I'll follow you."

"Ok!" replied Mimi. She and Palmon ran back to the passengers where she took hold of the captain's hand then aimed her Digivice at the laptop. "Alright everybody hold on tight! Digiport open!" A bright flash of light, a loud whirring noise and they were all gone.

Tai and Agumon began to back up to laptop as the creatures at the other end of the plane began to come to their senses then charged towards them shrieking madly. Tai gripped Agumon tightly around the middle and aimed his Digivice at the laptop.

"Agumon get ready to fire a _Pepper Breath_ when I say so" whispered Tai.

"Ok Tai" replied his faithful partner.

The creatures came closer and closer their hands outstretched.

"NOW!"

"_Pepper Breath!"_

Tai watched almost in slow-motion as the fire-ball streaked away past the creatures striking a window and shattering it. A roaring sound filled the plane as the creatures where sucked towards the hole in the plane and Tai screamed; "DIGIPORT OPEN!"

In the split-second before he went through the portal Tai saw a sight that made his stomach churn. People were being pulled towards the gap and sucked out of the plane. Not all of the passengers had gone through with Mimi and were now almost certainly going to die. Among them was the woman who had reacted with such distaste towards Agumon. He had condemned them all to a horrible death because he had been careless, because he had not double-checked before taking that rash action. All of a sudden Tai was hurtling through a tunnel of light and code until he landed on the floor of a laboratory and lay there numb with shock; he had failed to save everyone.

As he lay on the floor Mimi crawled next to him her face hovering over his looking down in concern.

"Tai," she whispered fearfully, "are you alright."

"Yeah!" Tai replied in a hollow voice. Mimi very gently raised him up into a sitting position and stared at him for a few minutes in concern. Before she could ask him what was wrong however the doors flew open and a group of scientists and a few security guards stormed in. "What is going on!" demanded the lead scientist hotly. This startled Tai back to his senses and very gingerly he got to his feet. He was still in charge here; he had to ensure the safety of these people and then meet up with Izzy and the others. So very calmly he strode towards the scientist.

"I am Ambassador Tai Kamiya head of the United Nations Digital World Affairs Committee!" said Tai in his most business-like tone. These people, along with me, were passengers on a commercial flight from New York City to Tokyo. We were attacked by creatures similar to Digimon and because of the threat to these people I was forced to send the crew and passengers here and destroy the plane along with the creatures."

"But you can't bring them here," blustered the scientist, "It's just ..."

"This laboratory was commissioned and paid for by the UN." snapped Tai whose patience was running thin now, "that means officially you answer to me. You can either do what I ask of you or find yourself another job."

The scientist swallowed nervously and said humbly; "I'm sorry sir! How can we be of assistance?"

"You can start by getting me a private connection to Dr Izumi head of the Tokyo lab. Then you can speak with the captain over there and arrange a transmission with Tokyo Airport so you can send the passengers there as soon as possible. Also check the passengers list with the captain just in case anybody didn't make it!"

Ten minutes later Tai was speaking to Izzy on the video line. Once Tai had filled Izzy in on the plane attack Izzy sat in thought for a few minutes before he spoke up. "That is the second time they were able to somehow appear through mirrors. I thought it might just be because of Kari but apparently it's more widespread. Tai when can you get here?"

"As soon as possible." replied Tai.

"In that case see if you can meet up with Joe at the hospital and get to my lab from there."

"Ok we'll see you soon." called Mimi and Izzy hung up.

The fastest way to travel from the lab to the hospital was to take the train. After the labs had been built the DWAC (Digital World Affairs Committee) had commissioned an interlinking train-line where numerous Trainmon would pull carriages full of passengers around between the labs, the hospital and several human residences built in the Digital World where the scientists and other people with Digimon partners lived. Tai and Mimi had managed to secure a private Trainmon to take them to the hospital where Joe worked. Mimi fell asleep on the seats Palmon nestling up next to her and Agumon soon dozed off as well but Tai stayed staring blankly out of the window unable to forget what had happened on the plane.

Had those people not gone through the portal with Mimi because they were afraid to go to the Digital World? Were they that mistrustful of Digimon? Could Tai really blame them after what had happened on the plane? With a jolt of horror Tai realised that he and Mimi had been the reason that the plane had been attacked, if they were not on board then those people would be alive right now. Tai's head sank into his hand into despair knowing that he would have to live with this mistake for the rest of his life.

Eventually Tai raised his head and stared out of the window as the train went past a village. Was it all worth it in the end Tai wondered? His life's work was building communities like the one he had just passed. A place where humans and Digimon lived in the same houses, breathed the same air, ate the same food, worked together and shared the gift of life with each other. When they got sick or injured they went to the same hospital as each other; the very hospital Joe now worked at where he and other doctors like him were trained to take care of human and Digimon alike. Tai prayed and prayed that more tragedies like the one today happened less and less frequently. He prayed that Kari was safe; that he would reunite with her soon and together they would topple this new adversary like they had so many before.

Finally the train reached the hospital allowing Tai and Mimi to disembark and cross into the lobby. From there they were escorted to Joe's office where Joe was sitting grimly holding a cup of coffee. Upon seeing them he hastily crossed over to them and hugged them then seemed to go limp in their arms so they helped him back into his chair.

"Joe what on earth's wrong." asked Mimi

"Some unidentified Digimon attacked a Geckomon village earlier." Joe explained. He seemed to shaking with grief over something and he could barely speak. "I've spent most of the day trying to deal with the situation. None of the survivors were able to say who attacked them just that it was so large and so fast. Just when I thought I could take it easy something else happened. Something worse!"

"I'm sorry we have to ask so much of you Joe." said Tai briskly, "But it is an emergency. Kari and the others are in danger from the Dark Ocean. We need to get to Izzy's lab where we can meet up with him and Gennai is going to explain everything to us."

Joe stared intently at Tai for a few seconds then stood up and led them out of the office and down the corridor. They reached a private room and Joe pushed open the door. Inside Gomamon was sitting in a chair keeping watch of the person lying in the bed. As they took a closer look they realised who it was.

"Oh my god, no!" whispered a startled Mimi.

It was Gennai. He was unconscious and covered in bandages except for portions of his head where they could see the massive amount of burns on his face. Half of his hair had been burnt away and he was breathing through a tube. "We have to keep him under constant anaesthetic," Joe explained, "or he will wake up screaming form the trauma. He was attacked by someone but he managed to make his way here. He told me this before went under."

"Why?" demanded Mimi, "why did they try to kill him."

"We have always relied on his guidance and his knowledge." muttered Tai who just stared at Gennai's mutilated form, "Someone just didn't want us to have that advantage this time."

"I had someone go and check out Gennai's house shortly after he arrived here." Joe added, "It has been burned to the ground. Completely levelled. Whatever information he was going to share with you and Izzy is a pile of ashes. I'm afraid to leave him in this condition."

"Joe there are dozens of other qualified doctors around here to look after Gennai but there is only one 'Old Reliable'. Only one digidestined here that I can rely on to stand by us not just as a doctor but as a friend."

Joe stared at Tai intently mulling over the idea in his head. "I don't know," he stammered nervously, "I just don't know."

Mimi reached out and took his hand and squeezed it gently. "Please Joe!" she whispered softly, "I know you're worried about everything here but you don't have to panic. We need you, we are the digidestined and we can't do this without you. Please Joe come with us."

Joe and Mimi stared at each other for a few moments then Joe nodded in agreement. "Ok I'm in." he said.

Tai hugged Joe reassuringly. "That's the good 'Old Reliable' I know." he said joyfully. Joe turned to his laptop and established a portal to Izzy's laboratory. Then the three of them aimed their Digivices at the screen. "Digiport open!"

They landed haphazardly on the floor of Izzy's laboratory and Tai felt a gentle hand lifting him to his feet and saw that it was Sora. Seeing the face of his oldest friend came as a relief to Tai after everything that had happened today and he gratefully accepted her embrace before turning to his other closest friend Matt. He then walked over to shake Izzy's hand as Mimi embraced Sora and Matt. They then all took seats to discuss the situation, Izzy telling them about his conversation with T.K. and Kari then Tai telling them about what happened on the plane.

"So it seems that this incident is not as isolated as I optimistically hoped for." Izzy said curtly. "And I still do not have any way of telling how they get through the mirrors and knowing precisely where we will be every moment of every hour."

"They are clearly following us." Matt said "Keeping us under surveillance."

"Then why have we not noticed them?" asked Joe, "We would have spotted ugly, black demonic fish people walking around."

"Then maybe they have some sort of tether to the world that pinpoints our location," suggested Sora, "something that leads them right to us."

"A tether! A tether!" murmured Izzy pacing about back and forth in thought. "Eureka!" he cried suddenly, "What about our Digivices, could they be following them. Maybe that is how they found Kari in the very beginning?"

"How would that work?" demanded Tai.

"Years ago Ken told about his first trip to the Dark Ocean." Izzy explained, "He told he put his Digivice in the water which caused it to morph into his black D3. Maybe when he did that they worked out how the Digivices work and how to locate them. By absorbing all of its information; prodigious!" Izzy yelled in triumph.

"Izzy you're a genius." Tai said.

"It is just a theory." replied Izzy, "But it is the one that makes the most sense. Of course that means that there is now no way we can possible hide from them!" Izzy suddenly realised what he had just said and went pale. "Quickly," he yelled, "we have to find every mirror in this place and smash it or throw it away. Hurry!"

They all ran around the building for the next ten minutes. Tai and Matt smashed all the mirrors in the toilets whilst Sora and Mimi secured any loose mirrors in the other rooms and Izzy hastily explained his friend's abnormal behaviour to any startled lookers-on. Once back in the main room Izzy said "Maybe Gennai can back up my theory with his evidence he's going to bring."

Joe very grimly told them all about Gennai's condition bringing looks of horror on Izzy's and Sora's faces. Matt said grimly "Well we're screwed aren't we. We are being chased by a seemingly all-powerful enemy who knows everything about us and how we fight. It can find us no matter where we are, it has no qualms about hurting our friends and loved-ones and will not stop until we are either dead or its mind-slaves What the hell are we supposed to do?"

"We do what we have always done. We learn, we never give up, we fight back and we win. Save the world and go on with our happy lives because we have earned them." The steel in Izzy's voice made them all turn to him and nod fiercely in agreement. "I'm going to get you all some coffee or tea to drink."

"I'll come with you." said Mimi.

"Me too." added Joe.

As the three of them left the room Matt and Sora moved their chairs closer to Tai. "You know you're usually the one who says the inspirational words that put fire in our hearts." said Matt, "and when you're this quiet something's wrong.

"We've been your friends long enough to know something is tormenting you," said Sora gently, "so please Tai tell us what's happened."

Tai told them about what really happened on the airplane, he knew that if anyone would understand then it would be the friends he trusted and cherished the most. "It's just knowing that I could have saved them if I had been more," whimpered Tai, "if I had double-checked before making that decision. I know that I should have been more responsible. I am expected to be more responsible, more careful, to protect people." Tai's shoulders shook with sobs and Sora hugged him resting his head on her shoulder whilst Matt tried to console.

"Tai listen to me." said Matt in his best consoling voice, "It wasn't your fault. Remember that. Sometimes being a leader means having to make a tough decision. We were never able to always save everyone when we were kids remember. But Tai leaders also have to make quick decisions in order to save other people and that's what you did. You came up with a plan that saved most of the people on that plane. Don't lose sight of that Tai!"

"He's right," whispered Sora soothingly, "it wasn't your fault. These creatures attacked you and forced your hand. They clearly didn't care about how many innocent bystanders got hurt or killed in the process. They started that attack it was their fault. You still managed to save more people though. It's going to be ok Tai; it's going to be ok."

After a few minutes Izzy, Joe and Mimi returned with drinks and Tai had recovered slightly. As he sipped his tea he said, "I'm sorry for burdening you guys with my problems. How are things with you? How are the kids?

"The kids are fine," replied Sora "but Matt's dad is..."

"His condition is getting worse and he may not make it." cut in Matt. Tai saw instantly the pain in Matt's eyes as he spoke and put a reassuring arm around his shoulder for support. At that moment the door flung open and the receptionist came in.

"Dr Izumi" she said franticly, "I just heard a report on the radio of a heated Digimon battle on a busy road not far from here on Odaiba boulevard. From what I heard one of the combatants is an angelic type Digimon."

"T.K."

"Kari."

"Let's go," said Izzy, "I'll drive us there." They all raced out to the parking lot and climbed into Izzy's van and drove down the road.

"Do we have a plan?" enquired Joe "Because if not maybe we should make one before we go all 'charge of the light brigade' on them."

"Joe's right." said Mimi, "I mean, what are we going to do?"

"We are going to kick their asses!" said Matt grimly.

"But we are going to need to ask them a few questions," cut in Tai, "like what they did to Gennai. What their plans are. And who their master is."

Izzy suddenly pulled the car to a stop and everyone stared out of the front of the car. Lying on the ground were the broken forms of Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, Patamon, Gatomon and Wormmon and their human partners backed up against a car. In the centre of this was a tall figure wrapped in a black cloak raising a sword above his head. He swung the sword down and the other Digidestined all scattered to avoid the blade but the figure merely grabbed T.K. by the collar and dragged him away. He then pushed T.K. to the ground and raised the sword again in order to bring it down with a swift stabbing motion.

"NO!" Matt screamed rushing out of the car with Sora and Tai hot on his heels. The figure turned to face them.

"So you have finally arrived. I must say I expected you sooner and you are still not powerful enough to stop me." The figure with the sword spoke in a cold detached voice. "I will take carry out my master's orders," he continued, "and you will not get in my way."

"Is that a challenge?" asked Matt reaching for his Digivice, "Because when you threaten my brother it clouds my judgment makes me a little angry."

The figure threw back his head and laughed. "You cannot intimidate me bearer of friendship. I am Morphmon, most loyal servant of the Master of the Dark Ocean. My master has decreed that your brother must die and I am more than happy to oblige him."

"Think again!" yelled Tai, "Alright guys let's take him down. Digivolve!"

"_Agumon digivolve to ...Greymon!"_

"_Gabumon digivolve to ...Garurumon!"_

"_Biyomon digivolve to ...Birdramon!"_

"_Tentamon digivolve to ...Kabuterimon!"_

"_Palmon digivolve to ...Togemon!"_

"_Gomamon digivolve to ...Ikkakumon!"_

They charged! The two Digimon that could fly gained advantage and took the first attack. "_Electro Shocker!" _Kabuterimon yelled conjuring a massive ball of lightning bolts and sparks of energy and hurled it at Morphmon. As it struck Morphmon he writhed and screamed as the electricity coursed though his body, he lost his footing and fell over allowing T.K. to make a break for it. As Morphmon tried to recover from that first attack Birdramon, Greymon and Garurumon launched their attacks.

"_Nova Blast!"_

"_Howling Blaster!"_

"_Meteor Wing!"_

All of these attacks produced fireballs; two from the mouths of Greymon and Garurumon and four from the wings of Birdramon. The flames ignited Morphmon's cloak causing him to roll on the floor screaming in agony trying to put out the flames. But even before he could do more than that Togemon launched her attack; "_Needle Spray!"_ she cried launching the needles along her cactus-like body at Morphmon like projectiles. The shrieks he made suggested that many of them had found their mark. And finally Ikkakumon moved in to make the finishing blow. "_Harpoon Torpedo!" _and the horn on his head was launched like a missile at Morphmon. On making contact with him it exploded in a cloud of black smoke and flames.

The original Digidestined meanwhile rushed past the battle to aid their friends. Matt and Tai bounded next to Kari who was supporting T.K. who seemed weakened slightly by the ordeal. He was cold, pale and shivering violently. As Tai hugged Kari Matt bent down next to T.K. and whispered "What's wrong?"

"H-h-h-i-s-s-s-s h-h-and-d," shivered T.K., "s-s-s-s-o-o-o c-c-c-c-c-c-cold! Like ice!" Kari let go of Tai and put her arms around T.K. for warmth and his shivering seemed to subside allowing Matt to relax slightly. Tai meanwhile turned to Izzy and demanded "WHO the hell was that, tell me."

"Izzy had his laptop on and was using it to scan the massive databanks of his Digimon analyser to find that information. But eventually he lifted his head looking worried. "Bad news people," he said, "I have no information on him. The Digimon analyser does not recognise even as a life form. I couldn't even tell you what his evolutionary stage is." They turned nervously to see Morphmon fully recovered and standing tall facing them down.

"You are powerful," he admitted, "and persistent. But you will eventually lose. Why not spare yourself the pain of what is to come and give me what I want. It was not a requirement for me to kill all of you for that is not my orders and i do not bear you any ill will. I do not particularly wish to kill any of you for you may not have a purpose in the great plan of my Master or he may destroy you later in which giving up now buys you a little more life."

"Then what was all that crap about our death's now being mercy killings earlier?" demanded T.K. angrily, "From what you said it sounded like we were all doomed anyway because of your boss."

"The master does not reveal his full intentions to me. He speaks angrily about you and your kind so perhaps he may choose to exterminate your species. For now though my orders are to retrieve Kari the Bride of Light along with Ken the Fallen Emperor by any means necessary. Do not get in my way and I will not attack you; it is that simple."

Greymon took a bold step forward and roared in Morphmon's direction. "Kari is staying with us." he growled menacingly, "You can either go home or we will crush. However powerful you might think you are the fact remains that we still outnumber and we give a sufficient butt-kicking again if necessary."

"Very well then. We will fight but I will win because i have the perfect weapon to defeat you. _Morph to Greymon!"_ the older Digidestined stared in shock as the duplicate Greymon perfectly imitated the originals roar. "The perfect weapon to defeat you is yourselves."

The duplicate Greymon and the original charged each other. It was like something out of an old Jurassic Park movie watching the two dinosaurs clash but eventually the real Greymon fell. The second team of Digidestined watched grimly as the scenario in which their Digimon partners had been defeated was played out again with the old guard. However as Morphmon was about to change into Kabuterimon in order to attack the real one Izzy screamed "Zap him now!"

Kabuterimon sent an _Electro Shocker _that struck Morphmon in the middle of his transformation. He let out a distorted scream and seemed momentarily stuck in between the two forms but he was then back to Morphmon and being attacked by Kabuterimon again along with Togemon and Ikkakumon. Pleased with his idea Izzy looked down to see his Digivice was glowing for some reason. Meanwhile Sora and Matt had rushed behind Morphmon to aid their injured partners. Seeing them Morphmon spun round raising his sword to attack them.

Almost instinctively Matt and Sora rushed in front of their fallen friends to shield them from Morphmon. As he swung the sword at them their Digivices also started to glow. In another moment of inspiration Izzy drew his Digivice and aimed it at Morphmon and a beam of light burst out and struck Morphmon seemingly paralysing him. Following this Matt and Sora aimed their Digivices at him and the same thing happened. The beams of light lifted Morphmon up into the air and turned into more swirling bolts of energy writhing around as he screamed in pain. Then the beams of light vanished and Morphmon dropped from the sky. As he hit the ground he cried out; "Master, help me!"

On the shores of the Dark Ocean the entire battle had been seen and criticised scathingly by a certain individual. "One with considerable more power!" sneered Daemon, "he has failed just like all your other vermin. And now the Digidestined have triumphed together. Your great plan has failed." Daemon began to chuckle darkly.

"Beware your impertinence Daemon!" said the cold voice, "You forget to whom you speak! I may choose to decide that you continue to be punished harshly for your disobedience. My plan has not failed it has merely been delayed. Delayed to my underestimating the Digidestined, they do appear to be capable of wielding great power but they do not fully understand how to use it. And once I have her it will not matter how powerful they are for I shall be greater still."

"Please let me go." begged Daemon, "I will succeed where Morphmon has ..."

"SILENCE! SILENCE! SILENCE!" roared the voice. Each word sent a shockwave that crashed upon Daemon like a mountain-slide. He was in agony and he sank low into the sand. "RESTRAIN YOUR BLOODLUST DAEMON!"

"Please. Oh great one. Have mercy!"

"You speak of failures when you are the only one who has yet failed this day. You did not ensure that Gennai was dead. He has since managed to find aid. He may still lead to my plan's undoing." There was a short silence over the calm waves of the dark ocean. "Still you did at least destroy Gennai's trove of knowledge and information. Anything the humans want to know will now have to be dragged from the fool's memory. As such I still need the Bride of Light soon and now Morphmon will not be enough. You will go now and assist him."

"I!" whispered Daemon raising his head. "I will go to the human world. Oh thank you great one, thank you!"

"Daemon," cautioned the voice, "remember, you must bring me those I desire and you must follow the instructions of Morphmon for you are there to assist him. Control yourself Daemon or you will suffer the consequences. Now go!"

As the Digidestined stared down at the broken form of Morphmon Tai bent closer to his and said; "ok tough guy it's time to talk! Who sent you?"

"Fool! I was sent by the Master. We have no other name for him. I am his servant now and always."

"Why do you want Kari?"

"She is my future Queen. She is instrumental in the grand design of my Master. But I have failed to capture her so now my Master will send another into this battle. One whose savagery, power and thirst for revenge you cannot hold back."

"What are you ...?"

Tai's words were drowned out by Kari's scream and they all turned to see where she was pointing. She was pointing at a portal that seemed to form in the air. It came to rest on the ground and then a figure emerged form it; clad entirely in red cloth except for a gap for his eyes and his purple horns and wings. Daemon spread his arms and sank into a mocking bow.

"Hello my old friends. Remember me? I certainly have not forgotten you and when I am done here you will plead for the mercy of Daemon; the mercy of a swift death!" 

**Author's Notes:**

**There are a couple of points I would like to make. **

**The first is that this delayed chapter was delayed because it gradually became longer than I had originally planned. So maybe I will try to make the next few chapters a bit shorter and more condensed.**

**The second is that part of the dialogue between Morphmon and the digidestined was to cover a typing error from the previous chapter. What Morphmon had said then did not fit into what had planned to reveal later so I had to cover it. Please forgive these little continuity errors (this is my first ongoing fic) I will try to be a little more careful in the future.**

**The third and final one is that all reviews are welcome. Please feel free to make any comments you like, they will be much appreciated.**

**Coming Soon: Chapter 5 = Hard Choices**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **

**The following is a non-profit made, fan-based story. Digimon and all licensed characters are the property of Toei Animation (I think). Please support the official release; by watching online because the original shows are not broadcast anymore nor do they exist on DVD (I think, I wish they were, it would save me downloading time on YouTube).**

**Yes I am a fan of Team Four Star.**

**Chapter 5 = Hard Choices**

It seemed like an eternity passed as the Digidestined stared at the long-presumed banished enemy and Daemon began to chuckle. It grew into a deep booming laugh that chilled them to their very bones, unlike Morphmon's previous laughter that seemed like an ironic chuckle at the situation Daemon's laugh was full of sadistic mirth and glee. Finally his laughter subsided and he began to glide towards his hated enemies his eyes burning with murderous intent.

"Well, well, well!" he hissed softly, "All together now like livestock for the slaughter. But of course two animals must be preserved for the fair." Here his eyes selected out Kari and Ken then swept over the rest of them; "The rest of you though are just ripe pickings!" and he raised his hands to attack.

"_Needle Spray!_" cried Togemon and her needles hit bang on target; Daemon's eyes. As he threw back his head trying to claw out the needles all the Digimon launched their attacks again pinning him to the ground. "Run!" screamed Tai and they scrambled onto the big Digimon's backs and fled up the road travelling deeper into the city of Tokyo. Tai dared a glance over his shoulder and saw to his immense relief that they were not being followed.

"Tai." Izzy called from on top of Kabuterimon, "We need somewhere to hide from them. Somewhere quiet they won't think to look for us."

"I know a place!" yelled Sora, "but I think we should move on foot from here in order to look more conspicuous."

"I agree." Tai said and Greymon came to a halt allowing Tai and Kari to slide off his back, Kari was carrying Gatomon who was still unconscious. One by one their Digimon returned to their rookie forms and they all headed into the crowded streets with Sora leading them.

Seething with rage Daemon strode over to the weakened Morphmon and kicked him savagely. "Get up," he growled, "I don't have the time to waste looking out for you, you pathetic specimen!"

"Morphmon stood and squared Daemon eye to eye. "I do not require your aid or encouragement. I will bring them to my Master. You will only get in the way.

"Yes you seem to be doing a very good job so far." Daemon chuckled, "they have fled again because you seemed to dawdle instead of capturing them when you had the chance."

Morphmon flashed Daemon an angry glare before speaking again. "It's not a concern," he said simply, "we will continue to track them as we have before."

"And be led on another wild goose chase that will end in a dismal failure." Daemon snapped, "I have a better plan, listen. Instead of going after them I propose we make them come to us."

"How?"

"Ah you see, you do not understand." Daemon said quickly, "You think like a simple assassin, you have a target and a job which you carry out. You do not understand the psychology of it. How to play to their weaknesses. I do!" Daemon began to chuckle maniacally; "I do!"

"Explain it to me then!" snapped Morphmon irritably.

"You must go for the mass effect." Daemon yelled grandly "By creating the one thing that will play upon their guilty consciences like instruments and bring them right to us. Collateral Damage!"

Daemon unfolded his wings and shot up into the sky leaving Morphmon staring at him in dislike but now a hint of nervousness mingled with his dislike.

Sora led them to an old apartment building and up to an apartment on the seventh floor. "This is my cousin's." she explained. "He's out of town for a few weeks and asked me to keep an eye on it for him. I have the key here somewhere." she explained rummaging through her pockets.

"This wouldn't happen to be that cousin who's the black sheep of the family would it?" asked Joe nervously, "That short- tempered nutter who pushed Izzy off a bridge."

"Sadly yes!" said Matt shortly, "So his apartment leaves much to be desired. But it is probably as safe a place as any." Very carefully Sora opened the door just in case there were creatures waiting inside to jump. There weren't so she and Matt hastily scoured the place for mirrors. Finding one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom they hastily destroyed both and threw the pieces in the bin. Then all of them set about taking care of each of their worries. Sora and Matt had left their children in the care of Sora's mum hastily rang them to make sure they were all right whilst Tai and Kari checked on T.K. who seemed to have fully recovered. Ken and Yolei comforted the children whilst checking to see about the recovery of Wormmon and Hawkmon. Once both were awake Ken rang his superiors to alert them about Morphmon and Daemon whilst Davis meanwhile locked himself in the bathroom to ring his girlfriend Lily. Joe treated the other injured Digimon making sure that they were comfortable along with Mimi's assistance. Izzy and Cody however sat at opposite chairs both lost in thought.

"Ok!" said Tai after a while bringing everyone's attention to him, "Now that we are all gathered together we need to think of a new plan. Our biggest concern right now is what kind of havoc and destruction Daemon and Morphmon are going to wreak here."

"I did warn the Police." Cut in Ken, "If they are seen in any large public areas the police will try to evacuate civilians as well as alert me so we can confront them again."

"A good plan," said Izzy, "because sooner or later they are going to find us again."

"Good!" said Tai, "In the meantime we should have our Digimon partners conserve their strength for when we have to go out and fight again. Joe how are in that area?"

"Veemon, Armadillomon and Patamon still need rest." said Joe briskly, "Hawkmon, Wormmon and Gatomon should recover swiftly. All the rest of them are fine."

"Tai maybe we should avoid rushing into another fight." said Matt, "Daemon is a mega-level Digimon and was too powerful for us to fight on an even level years ago. Now he's maybe even stronger than before and he is clearly itching for a fight."

"Hold on a minute," said Cody, "We are ignoring an important question here. How on earth did Daemon manage to get here?"

"He was able to create his own portals between the Digital World and the real world. But we assumed he couldn't create a portal between the Dark Ocean and here or he would have come after us years ago." said Yolei.

"He is clearly working with the eponymous 'Master'" said T.K. speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "perhaps he sent Daemon here after Morphmon pleaded for help!"

"Daemon would probably have jumped at the chance to attack us," said Kari grimly, "after all those years being imprisoned there he is probably desperate for revenge."

"If so that makes him even more dangerous than Morphmon." said Ken, "We already know he's ruthless and has no regard for human lives. Now we've made him angry."

"We've been up against enemies who are more powerful than us before haven't we?" snapped Davis boldly, "Come on guys we can win this even if I have to lead you out of your pits despair again. Don't give up on me." Davis stared looking crest-fallen as the Digidestined merely shifted uncomfortably some avoiding his gaze. Then Davis felt a tugging on his arm and looking down he saw that it was Veemon.

"Don't worry Davis." he said defiantly "I'll fight him for you."

There was an outbreak of laughter at this from everyone and Tai yelled over them; "You two crazy knuckleheads." Then Sora's phone beeped, she hastily looked at the text message she had received then grabbed the television remote and switched it on.

Once turning it on she flicked over to the news where a shaky newscaster was trying to make an announcement; "We now go live to our special guest tonight." she whimpered and the screen cut to an image of Daemon. As the Digidestined all gasped in horror Daemon began to speak.

"Good evening humans. I have seized control of this broadcast station in order to send a very personal message. You see I have a task to undertake but a certain group of people are making it very difficult for me to accomplish it. They know who they are and this message is a reminder that they should not have trifled with me the all-powerful Daemon!" here Daemon made a gesture with his hand and the camera pulled back revealing that he was standing on roof of the Odaiba television station and down below a large crowd of people had been gathered by Morphmon. In the distance the sound of sirens could be heard but Daemon continued speaking. "Now the poor workers of this fine establishment are going to get a taste of the power of Daemon; the Demon Lord of Wrath!"

"_EVIL IINFERNO!"_

Fire shot from his hands and engulfed the hostages below. Morphmon leapt out of the way as the innocent people were set ablaze and either fell or ran screaming in horrible agony. The camera started shaking violently and Daemon's voice screamed furiously; "Keep it in focus you little insect or you will be next!" the sirens grew louder as several police cars arrived on the scene but Daemon merely shouted with glee; "Ah! Target practice! _Evil Inferno! Evil Inferno!_"

More fireballs and one-by-one the police cars were destroyed. The booming laughter reverberated over the carnage and then he turned to the camera once more. "You see this Digidestined? I am capable of doing it again. Unless you want my next target to homes, shops or hospitals I suggest that you try to stop me. Or you could just give my associate and I what we want and we'll leave. If you hurry!" Laughing maniacally he sent another fireball at the camera and the screen went static.

Watching in horror Tai began to shake with fury; Gennai, the people in the plane and now this. Behind him Matt whispered in horror; "My father works there. If he wasn't in the hospital that could have been him." Nearby Yolei was shushing little Sam trying to reassure him that it was alright and Davis balled his hands into fists and snapped "What now?"

"If he wants a challenge," replied Tai coldly, "we'll give him one." Immediately Sora, Kari, Mimi, Izzy, Joe and Cody began to protest but Tai raised and yelled "Quiet! We don't have time to debate the issue; he is holding the fate of innocent lives over us. I will face him alone if I have to and I am not asking anyone to go with me. If you want to however you are more than welcome."

"I'm going." said Ken abruptly. As Yolei stood up to protest he turned to her and said bluntly; "I have to. I'm the one who put the police on alert for them. My colleagues out there are getting hurt because of me. I have to try to make things right."

"I'll go with you too!" chipped in Davis.

"So will I!" said Matt gravely raising himself up, "I can't let the three of you go blundering off and getting hurt. I'd never be able to look in the mirror again."

Tai could only smile in relief; knowing that his best friend would be at his side to hold him check would give him strength and comfort. He looked around the room; "Ok. We'll be back as soon as we have put that thug in his place and regret ever hurting a hair on any human's head. Tai walked and pulled Kari into a tight hug. "Promise me something," he whispered, "please don't try and follow us, ok? Whatever happens do not put yourself in a position where they can take you prisoner. Please do this for Kari."

Kari stared at him tears welling in her eyes then she nodded in consent. "Please take care of yourself Tai!"

Matt held Sora to him tightly and kissed her passionately. "I love you!" he said finally when they broke the kiss.

"I love you too!" she replied. She did not cry and her voice did not waver, her strength reminded him of why he loved her so much. He did not need to tell her to watch over their children and his father should he not return, they understood each other so well that those words were unnecessary. Besides Matt had every intention of coming home from this fight. Moving on from his wife he turned to T.K. and quickly embraced him whispering; "See you in a bit, ok?"

Ken pulled his son into a tight hug and stroked his hair softly. "I'll be coming back real soon I promise!" he whispered reassuringly. Sam looked terrified but did not cry so Ken patted him consolingly on the cheek; "That's my brave boy!" he said in pride. Kyomi rushed him to next and began squeezing tightly; "It's ok, it's going to be alright!"he said. Then he added a little bit more firmly; "Now I need you to be big girl for me please. You've got to take care of your mum and your little brother."

"OK!" came a weak response.

"Hey you don't need to worry." Davis said reassuringly, "Your dad and I are an unstoppable team. We'll be back home before you know it."

"I'll hold you to that Davis." cut in Yolei. She strode towards Ken her ablaze with both fear and compassion. She threw her arms around him almost knocking him of balance.

"I'm sorry but I have to do this," he stammered, "it's just a matter of principles. Promises and duty something I can't run away from."

"Ever the apologiser!" she chuckled.

"Ever the worrier!" he replied with a small smile. "I love you!" they both said in unison then they kissed softly. Then Tai, Matt, Davis and Ken all passed through the flat front door and made their way to the ground floor. They had just reached the lift doors and were about to descend when Joe caught up with them.

"Sorry, sorry!" he stammered as he joined them in the lift and pressed the button again for them. "I decided I'm going with you," he said with a touch of defiance as the lift descended, "I mean you may need my help as a doctor in case things go wrong. I know I'm not the best fighter like you guys but I want to."

Tai and Davis both burst out in nervous laughter but Matt clapped a comforting hand as a gesture of thanks whilst ken gave an approving nod and a smile. Eventually the laughter subsided and Davis said loudly; "Oh man, I love you Joe."

"Me too, old reliable, me too!" added Tai.

The lift reached the ground floor and the doors opened. Very briskly the five men crossed the entrance hall and went out the front door. Their Digimon partners ran ahead of them and leaped into the air as the humans raised their Digivices and yelled all together; "DIGIVOLVE!"

Morphmon stared at the carnage Daemon had cause in disgust. He despised this spawn of filth that called itself a Demon Lord; he despised his brutality, his uncontrollable violent urges and above all his disrespect and lack of loyalty to the Master. Daemon clearly hated the Master and longed to be free of him and would not hesitate to betray him if he had that chance. Morphmon had now set himself the task of keeping Daemon under his thumb from now on, he hoped that his Master would dispose of Daemon soon; he should not have any place in his Master's plan. He did not deserve it.

"So?" said Daemon grandly, "They have declined to show their faces. Perhaps we should move onto the next target; a children's hospital. That should have the right impact." Suddenly the ground began to shake and both Morphmon and Daemon said in unison; "They're here!" And sure they had arrived; Greymon, Garurumon, Stingmon, Exveemon and Ikkakumon took battle positions whilst their human partners faced them in defiance.

"Where is Kari?" demanded Morphmon

"Sorry she couldn't make it," said Davis, "not feeling to good, sends her regards; not!"

Morphmon growled and pointed his sword at Davis. "Do not jest with me human."

Daemon began to chuckle. "So you finally came to face us then? Did you hope to avenge your fellow humans? Those poor little victims!" Daemon paused letting his words sink in then continued; "Well Ken, I see you decided to face your destiny. Left the family behind have you? That was a wise move; I'm sure that your children wouldn't their precious brave daddy all broken and humiliated. That would be shame, wouldn't it?"

Ken remained unresponsive. He knew that daemon was only trying to goad him into attacking first and he wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. Tai meanwhile said coolly; "Those tactics might have worked when we were children but it won't today. We are here to simply make sure you answer for the people you killed and ensure that you will face justice for your crimes. I guarantee that. We have beaten bigger menaces and triumphed so do your worst."

"Ah, human defiance. You are so sure that you will win aren't you?" said Morphmon. "Haven't you realised that you are pitting yourselves against a being whose will is more powerful than your tiny minds could ever comprehend!"

"I certainly hope you put up a better fight than that weak old man!" sneered Daemon.

"Wait," said Tai, "it was you! You're the one who attacked Gennai!"

"Yes," hissed Daemon, "How is he? I imagine that those burns are quite severe. Even if he is still alive he must be in agony. I doubt he will survive much longer. That senile old crank."

Daemon's laugh was long and loud and then he began to yell; "We'll sweep you aside take those we need and you will never see them again. They will endure a thousand forms of torture in the Dark Ocean, agony you cannot conceive in your darkest nightmares and I will watch". But Daemon's rant was cut short by Tai who screamed shrilly "TAKE THEM DOWN!"

Greymon and Garurumon pounced on Daemon holding him down while they bit and clawed at him. Meanwhile Exveemon and Stingmon targeted Morphmon both charging trying to land a blow on him, keeping him distracted enough so that he couldn't change form. Eventually Stingmon used his _Spiking Strike_ as a blade to counter Morphmon's _Shadow Blade_ and as the two of them stood locked together Exveemon used his _Vee Laser_ that hit Morphmon in the back and he fell to the ground.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Gennai" roared Greymon as he tried to shake Daemon about in his jaws and flinging him across the street into Ikkakumon's line of fire. One swift _Harpoon Torpedo_ and Daemon lay still on the road.

"Now what?" asked Davis?

"_Sphere of Despair!" _It hit Exveemon in the back and he fell on top of Davis trapping him underneath. Everyone turned to see Morphmon back on his feet sword at the ready. He leapt at Ikkakumon bringing his _Shadow Blade_ down on the tip of Ikkakumon's horn; the full force of the impact dug Ikkakumon into the ground and reduced him back to Gomamon again. Then Morphmon spun to face the charging Greymon and Garurumon again.

"_Sphere of Despair! Sphere of Despair!"_

Both attacks found their marks incapacitating Tai and Matt's Digimon leaving only;

"_Morph to Stingmon! Spiking Strike!" _the two Stingmons swirled and danced in the air their wings buzzing angrily, each trying to land a deadly blow. Then Daemon returned to the fight and simply targeted both with his _Evil Inferno_ sending both crashing to the ground. One returned to and feebly-stirring Wormmon and the other to an enraged Morphmon.

"That hurt damn you!" he raged but Daemon merely shrugged his shoulders.

"At least they're all down and now we can complete half of our task" he said his eyes focused on Ken. "But first," he added maliciously, "I'm going to indulge myself with one of the others." There was a horrible pause whilst everyone stared in fear at him then Daemon swopped down on Davis.

"You!" he growled, "You are one of those who helped give Ken the inspiration to trap me in the Dark Ocean. You will do nicely. Are you prepared for the kind of death you've earned little man?"

Back in the safe apartment Kari paced back and forth nervously whilst Izzy poured over his laptop trying to get in contact with anyone who might be able to help them. Cody kept talking to T.K. to keep him focused whilst Mimi looked after the slumbering Digimon. Sora and Yolei sat on the sofa consoling the children and Kari kept pacing around the room until she found that everyone was starting to stare at her. She froze and stared back; looking at the look of growing fear and concern in Yolei and Sora's faces, the bitter exhaustion on Izzy's forehead and the look of weariness on T.K.'s face. For a long time they stared into each other's eyes and a look of understanding dawned in his. It was at this point that Kari broke contact and ran into the bathroom. Inside she leaned back against the wall and sank to the floor.

"The solution is really quite simple." said a soft voice. Kari sat bolt upright and looked but could see nothing. Was the creature now powerful enough to speak to her mind whilst she was conscious now? She gave an involuntary shudder and the voice spoke up again. "You can still give yourself up and the others will be allowed to go on their way. They cannot stop me no matter what they throw at me. Come to me Kari, surrender willingly, you know it is the right thing to do."

"No!" Kari yelled almost on instinct. There was silence and Kari began to form a new plan. Steeling herself with determination she stood up and crossed to the door, opening it to reveal T.K. waiting. Before he could ask any questions she said; "I've made my decision. I'm not going to let anyone fight my battles. I will not let them run my life with fear and threats. So I'm going down there and I am going to help my brother. If I have to beat them back with my bare hands then that's what I will do!"

"That's the good old Kari I want to see," chirped up Gatomon, "let's go then."

T.K. caught Kari's hand and tried to hold her back but she broke free and looked at him sternly; "Don't try to stop me T.K.," she said, "you can't change my mind. And please don't try to follow me. With Patamon still too weak to fight you can't do anything." She held T.K.'s face in her hands; "Just have a little faith in me, hold onto your hope and I'll make it though okay." One quick kiss and she passed on through leaving a stunned silence in her wake.

Once outside she and Gatomon exchanged an understanding nod and Kari pressed her Digivice to her chest. "The light inside me is for everyone!" she whispered firmly, "I will save my friends from the danger they face. Because I care about them. Because I am not afraid of those servants of darkness!" Her Digivice sparked to life at this point and then.

"_Gatomon digivolve to ...Angewomon!"_

Angewomon lowered her hands and gracefully lifted Kari into the air. She flew across the sky; over and round the buildings of the city. They finally arrived at the scene of the battle to see Daemon and Morphmon standing victorious. Daemon was pulling Davis out from under Exveemon and was holding him at arm's length. Lowering Kari to the ground Angewomon swooped towards Daemon knocking him aside and flying Davis to safety. Then she twirled into the air and took aim at Morphmon with her bow. "_Celestial Arrow!_" she cried and the arrow went straight and true into Morphmon's chest. He writhed and screamed in pain as he had when been attacked by the light from the Digivices and Angewomon took aim again.

"_Evil Inferno!_" cried Daemon and as the flames distracted Angewomon Morphmon yelled "_Sphere of_ _Despair!_" and the attack struck Angewomon in the head. As she cringed momentarily Morphmon leapt into the air and his Shadow Blade went through Angewomon's side. As Kari screamed in terror Angewomon reverted back to Gatomon and fell however Morphmon caught her in his arms and pressed the blade against her throat.

"Now then Bride of Light," he hissed breathlessly, "you can either come with me or you can watch your beloved partner die. And then your brother will join her. Is that what you really want? Is it?"

"NO!"

"Then surrender!"

"Let us not forget someone else!" called Daemon. He had once again caught hold of Davis and was starting to twist his arm. "Ken," he snapped malevolently, "I will slowly kill your friend here unless you surrender as well." To make his point he violently bent Davis's arm; there was a gruesome snapping noise and Davis howled in agony. Kari and Ken exchanged looks of doubt and fear.

"we are waiting!" said Morphmon coldly, pushing his sword a little closer against Gatomon.

"Don't do it!" Davis screamed impulsively. Then Daemon gripped his shoulder and pushed down hard resulting in a sickening popping noise and another yell of pain.

Kari looked at Davis his face streaked with tears, then at Gatomon whose eyes were pleading _no_ and finally at Tai who was cradling Agumon and silently whispering "Don't please don't."

"Alright I give up!"

Davis and Tai's yells of defiance were drowned by Daemon's triumphant laughter. "Very good Kari." Morphmon said, "Now come to me." Kari crossed over to Morphmon and looked him in the eyes defiantly. "Now let her go!" she demanded. Almost casually Morphmon tossed Gatomon aside next to Tai and then turned to Ken. "And what about you Fallen Emperor?" he demanded.

Ken lowered his head almost in penitence then slowly crossed over and stood besides Kari. "Excellent," Morphmon said softly, "Daemon you may release him now!"

Daemon sidled up next to Morphmon still clutching Davis. "Actually," he said mildly, "I think I'll keep this one with me for some fun."

"_Shadow Blade!_" the attack cut Daemon's arms causing him to drop Davis and then pressed the tip of his sword between Daemon's eyes. "A deal is a deal Daemon!" Morphmon growled threateningly.

"Of course. I apologise"

"Good!" Morphmon then raised his free hand high in the air and a portal began to form. It became a big wide swirling mass of blue and black energy into which the two Digimon tossed Ken and Kari into. Then Daemon passed through and Morphmon turned to face the defeated Digidestined.

"we have spared your lives this time." He said bluntly, "But rest assured if you attempt to rescue them or thwart the plans of my great Master. Then you will die and your world will fall. Think very carefully before you make your next move."

He passed through the portal and it sealed shut behind. Leaving only the sound of crackling flames, Davis whimpering in pain and the flow of Tai's tears.

**COMING SOON:**

**The Gospel According to Dagomon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Digimon. I wish I did because if I did I would have this turned into a new anime on TV, how awesome would that be. But for now on with the show.**

**Chapter 6 = The Gospel According to Dagomon**

After a brief disorienting trip Kari felt herself crash on to a soft pile of sound where she lay dazed. There was a soft crash next to her and she turned her head to see Ken lying there looking as equally woozy. All around them were the sounds of fierce murmurs and harsh whispers. In the distance Kari could hear the sound of waves lapping lazily against the shore. Very boldly Kari and ken slowly stood up and saw that they were in the middle of vast crowd of the creatures who huddled together never taking their golden eyes off the two Digidestined. Morphmon and Daemon stood watch like a pair of towering sentinels and the Dark Ocean broke gently upon the beach. On the edge of the horizon the lighthouse shone on relentlessly casting its black beacon over the entire area. They were back.

Kari began to slowly shift backwards away from the Ocean not fully aware that every pair of eyes was fixed upon her. There was just that guiding instinct in her mind telling her not to go near the water; that under no circumstance should she touch the water. She glanced at Ken who had not moved an inch, he seemed to be paralysed in fear, but merely kept looking from her to the water. Suddenly Morphmon raised one arm and indicated Kari. "Behold your Queen." He cried aloud, "I have brought her here so that we may begin the grand design."

With yells of delight the creatures leapt forward with arms outstretched to snatch Kari but before they could and before Kari could make a move Ken threw himself between them. He began to savagely fight them off, punching, kicking and tearing at them for all he was worth. More creatures joined in and Ken was swiftly over whelmed by the numbers. He fell back into the sand and as the creatures swarmed on top of him he twisted round to Kari and yelled; "Run!" Kari ran ungainly across the sand but collided with Daemon who grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her boldly into the air. Suddenly there was deathly silence and everyone's eyes now turned to Daemon, each gaze was one of cold anger and could feel Daemon's arms begin to tremble.

Suddenly all the creatures began to speak in unison; their voices ringing in perfect pitch and tone. "Daemon," they said, "release her immediately. She cannot escape from us now but if you harm her there will be terrible consequences." Very carefully Daemon lowered Kari to the ground but now sooner had he released her then he clutched at his head, began to convulse and scream as Kari had never heard anyone scream before. "You disappoint me Daemon," the voice continued, "you turned your mission into an excuse to indulge in your petty acts of sadism. Put aside your need for reckless violence and destruction. Remember that you serve a higher purpose now." Daemon merely curled up into a ball in terror.

"Morphmon," the eyes all turned to him now, "you have also proved yourself to be a failure. You were unable to retrieve our guests by yourself. And you became a willing participant in Daemon's machinations." Morphmon threw himself to the floor and began to prostrate loudly; "Oh forgive Great One, I tried so hard to please you. But I have brought them to you now. I am your most loyal, eternally faithful servant."

"Enough!" the chorus of voices said loudly, "It doesn't matter now. Just remember that I will not tolerate any shortcomings now that the endgame is nearly within our reach. But now that our human companions have joined us the time has come for me to emerge."

Everyone fixed their eyes upon the Dark Ocean which had begun to froth and churn violently. Then a great shape began to rise up out of the sea and they saw that it was a vast head. Its enlarged cranium area pulsed like a diseased organ and its eyes glowed red like shining rubies. Where its mouth should have been there dangled a large number of octopi-like tentacles and it took deep laboured breaths of air. It continued to rise up revealing a torso as tall as the highest cathedral spire dripping with water and slimy. Its arms were long and sinewy ending in webbed claws with razor- sharp talons. And upon its back two great bat-like wings were folded up. As it reared itself to its full height and spread its wings as large as planes the creatures, Daemon and Morphmon all sank into deep bows. When it spoke its voice was deep and cold and loud and clear; "Behold the Great Old One; he whom the Digimon call Dagomon, he whom the humans call Cthulhu and soon to be Master of all I survey!"

The sight of him was terrifying, intriguing and mystifying all at once. Despite the fact that Kari and Ken had seen and interacted with many freakish and bizarre monsters from an early age this creature exuded a presence that made him seem truly other-worldly. He was everything that you could look upon in awe and in fear. He lowered his claw to the beach and rested it upon the sand in front of Kari and Ken. "Please step onto my hand" he said in an almost gently voice, "I would look you in the eyes Kari Kamiya." Kari somehow found herself doing his bidding walking forward almost in a trance-like state, then she felt herself being lifted up into the air watching the ground below fall away. Still standing on the sand Ken watched as his friend slowly disappeared from sight then began to feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Glancing over his shoulder he saw that Daemon and a handful of the creatures were forming a closed semi-circle around him as if they were waiting for him to make a run for it.

Kari was now eye-level with the Great Old One staring into those glowing red orbs, she was shaking but she held her ground determined not to show to any fear or weakness. "There is much I must share with you," the Old One intoned gravely, "if you are to play a part in my great work you must know exactly what I am, the part I have played in the events in your life and what I shall soon accomplish with you at my side." There was a brief pause whilst Kari took a sharp intake of breath and the Old One began his tale.

"I am the last of my kind. My brethren were once all-powerful, the true controllers of the destiny of mankind. We preyed upon the frailties and weaknesses of human beings devouring their souls which provided nourishment for us. You see there is always a balance between two opposing forces each serving as the others equal and opposite. My brethren were all that represented the forces of darkness. We were pure darkness all that is what you would call corrupt and evil. Our equal and opposite was the forces of light that sought to liberate mankind from our control."

Despite her fear Kari suddenly cut across his words; "Wait, so you're telling me you fought some kind of Great War in the past much as we have before?"

The eyes narrowed in anger before the voice continued; "Not exactly! It was more of what you call a spiritual and psychological battle. Both the ideals of Light and Darkness are made of different traits and virtues. The side of Light is made up of the virtues that your friends used in their crests; Courage, Love, Friendship, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Kindness and Hope. The side of Darkness is made up of those equals and opposites; Fear, Hatred, Loneliness, Ignorance, Insincerity, Unreliability, Cruelty and Despair. We thought over the fate of mankind and eventually my brethren and I lost our foothold in the human realm. From then on we remained in this dimension trying to keep a tether hold on humanity. One-by-one the others wasted away into nothing until I was alone left to slumber beneath waiting for the opportunity to reach back into the hearts and minds of your species.

Then at last a chance presented itself. There was a human who I was able to project my thoughts to in his dreams, my nature took hold in his mind and he unwittingly became my prophet spreading my word to the world. His name was Howard Phillips Lovecraft and the dreams I fed to him became his so-called works of fiction known as the "Cthulhu Mythos" but my word was there albeit in a distorted version. I remained in slumber for several more years until I was awoken by a disturbing event. I gazed upon your realm when I realized that an entire new sub-dimension had been created; the Digital World. And the Digimon began to take form and began to grow in population slowly becoming aware, sentient. I saw the terrible truth; mankind had committed its greatest travesty in my eyes, the peak of their audacity and hubris." The Old Ones red eyes bored into Kari's; "You had rejected us as your Gods" his voice thundered, "and now you had taken on the monikers of Gods. You had created life itself!"

"No!" Kari interjected. "It wasn't intentional. Yes we did help the Digimon come into existence but it was subconsciously. We just deleted data and it fused with all the emotions, imaginations and dreams of children. We still can't explain how it happened but it wasn't an act of spite. You can't condemn two worlds for that."

"SILENCE! The mere fact that you have done this is enough. I now realised that I could no longer remain in the shadows guiding the events in thought only. I would lead the forces of darkness back to the seat of power, to ultimate victory. And I found in the Digimon the perfect foot soldiers; for whilst humans are capable of both the greatest good and the greatest evil there forever remains a presence of ambiguity, evil things can be done with noble justifications in your world. Forever the Digimon were a simpler baser form of life; once they became a servant of Darkness they would remain so for ever, all capable of acts you consider heinous, all driven by power the desire to reign as supreme rulers of all other life. Combine that with their superior strength and varied powers I would soon have a force to tear down the human race.

I created these menial creatures from parts of myself so that they would remain extensions of my will, they would be my eyes and ears in the real and digital world in constant connection with my superior mind. And soon an opportunity presented itself; as the Digimon continued to evolve some were unable to complete the process and they were lost to the data streams. I was able to save them, gather them here and nurtured their rage and anger towards. They worshipped me with their praises and named me Dagomon. Soon they became a gestalt entity with the power to implement my will."

"Apocalymon?" whispered Kari in shock, "You created Apocalymon?"

"Yes. Had it succeeded in tearing down the barrier between your two worlds all humans and Digimon would have been plunged into a new dark realm over which we would preside over. He chose to start with the Digital World and create other allies and followers. He found seven powerful angelic guardians of the Digital World and corrupted them turning into servants of the forces of darkness, they became our acolytes; the Demon Lords. Lucemon, Belphemon, Lilithmon, Barbamon, Beelzemon, Leviamon and Daemon."

Down below on the beach the Masters voice could still be heard. Daemon growled to himself. H remembered fully the old days. Sweeping all other Digimon under his heel with the other demon lords at his side but it rapidly became more and more meaningless. All that destruction was for the glory of Lucemon and Apocalymon and even that was merely the machinations of the Master. Over time he had began to loathe merely seizing power for his superiors, gaining glory for anyone other than himself. Always a cog in a grander design. And now he here was at the mercy of the greatest most powerful force of darkness in existence. The root of everything he had done, the reason behind his existence forcing him into servitude once again.

"You are aware of what happened next!"

"Yes," said Kari, "the original Digi-Destined, a group from before us came to the Digital World and defeated Apocalymon!"

"Not entirely," replied the Master, "they did not fully destroy Apocalymon and they only gained the upper hand because the Demon Lords chose to desert their Master. They fled the battlefield and hid themselves in their dens and tombs; they went into a slumber only to be awakened once they had an opportunity to seize power for themselves." Here the Master's eyes flickered down to the figure of Daemon; "They placed their own selfish desires over loyalty to their master. As such when Apocalymon came to reclaim his destiny he created his new servants himself. He ripped several Digimon away from the gestalt and fashioned them into his new followers who succeeded in grinding the Digital World under their heels; the Dark Masters, Myotismon, Etemon and Devimon.

You and the others were brought to the Digital World and you destroyed Apocalymon and his minions. It seemed as if I had been utterly defeated but in the midst of this terrible loss the opportunity for victory presented itself. I had learned that the once great power of light that had imprisoned me here had dwindled so that it now only remained in one solitary human, who could barely muster its true potential. That sole human is you Kari Kamiya."

"Me! You brought me here because you're afraid of what I could do to you." Kari cut in. "But I have no idea I am supposed to use. If they ever worked it was due to dumb luck. I'm not a threat."

"Of course not. You are not my enemy. You are of far greater value than you realise Kari Kamiya! Though your powers have not fully developed they have on occasion been able to manifest themselves such as when you were able to communicate with the higher forces of the Digital World, when you gave power to the Nunamon and your brother's partner Agumon."

"And when I stood up to those minions last night," replied Kari, "but why didn't you try to take me away sooner?"

"I did! That was the bargain I made with Myotismon in exchange for certain gifts. When Myotismon came to me through Yukio Oikawa I gave him the ability to build the control spires in exchange for the promise that he would deliver you to me alive. He implemented his scheme in which he would weaken the barriers between your worlds plunging both into darkness as Apocalymon should have. but again Myotismon reneged on our deal. He delayed the plan twisting it to suit his own needs so I decided to make my own move. Twice I attempted to ensnare you in this place and twice you escaped. So I merely waited to observe what would happen next. Our original revolved around the dark spore. Perhaps our friend daemon would care to explain what they are."

Down on the beach Daemon turned his head up to look at the Master and Kari before speaking. "The dark spore is like a power source which can be used by those who truly wish to wield the power of darkness. They provide an abundance of energy capable of being directed to almost any purpose. The other Demon Lords and I created them to make ourselves stronger, faster, smarter and more powerful. Until they were all but destroyed by the original Digi-Destined and that was when we chose to flee from the fight with Apocalymon."

"The spore that became embedded in our friend Ken here was dormant at first," interjected the Master, "tell me Ken. Do you remember what happened next?"

"Oikawa sent me an email which led me here," Ken said nervously, "I put my Digivice under the water and it changed into my D3. That was it, Myotismon wanted to lure me here."

"Yes," hissed the Master, "once you made contact with the ocean the dark spore became active. It also granted me access to your Digivice, that most interesting little trinket. I was able to learn how they worked and in so doing upgrade yours and make it stronger than the others. The new plan was to use Ken and Myotismon as my acolytes. They would gain power and weaken the barriers allowing me to come forth and reclaim my rightful place as the one with absolute power. And you Kari would riegn at my side as my Queen.

However I again faced defeat. You escaped my grasp and Ken overcame the spore's influence over him. Myotismon sought the seat of power for himself using the dark spores to recreate his body and spread his own dark forces over the world. I also had to contend with Daemon's meddling. He had prepared to awaken himself earlier than the other Demon Lords and hoped for his own chance at the summit. Didn't you Daemon?"

Daemon shifted uncomfortably then suddenly began to speak as though he were being forced to. "When we went into slumber," he said flatly, "the tombs were to place us in suspended animation but I tampered with mine to awaken me prematurely. When I learned of the Dark Spore I gathered to me several other fallen angel Digimon as my 'Daemon Corps'. I would access the dark spore's power; destroy the other tombs of my brethren and go on to make my own destiny, my own plans."

"Of course you did," all the voices spoke in unison, "and your loyalty will not waver again will it Daemon?"

"No, my master!"

"Myotismon's plan came to ruin and I have watched you and your friends prosper for 25 years. But still I had a chance to claim victory. When you trapped Daemon in my dimension I saw I now had an ally; a new acolyte. And now we are on the verge of my great victory. With you at my side Kari nothing will be able to stand in our way." 

"I am not on your side," Kari screamed defiantly at him, "and I never will be." There was a moment of deathly silence then the Master began to chuckle which became a deep laugh. The creatures, Morphmon and even Daemon laughed. Then the Maters claw clamped tightly shut around Kari so that only her head was visible over his fingers. The hand was moved so close to the Master's face that could see her own reflection in those pitiless red eyes. "We shall see about that." He growled, "I have waited too long to be denied by the likes of you."

"Daemon," he ordered, "extract the dark spore form Ken but do not kill him, he too has a part to play." Daemon's eyes burned with glee as he grabbed Ken by the throat and forced him down on his knees. "You have worked long and hard to suppress your spore haven't you?" Daemon inquired. Ken could barely nod in response.

"That means that extracting it from your body without merely tearing your head apart is going to be a long, laborious and, for you anyway, painful process. But after the 25 years of suffering I have endured because of you I am going to enjoy every second of it!"

"NO!" Kari screamed struggling against her bonds, "Leave him alone. Let me go!"

"Hush Kari!" hissed the Master. "the time has come for us to become more acquainted." He began to sink back into the water as Kari struggled in vain. Slowly sinking she could feel the water around her ankles, her fingers. She was now fully submerged slowly starting to slip into the unknown, the great blackness, total darkness.

**To be Continued!**

**Authors Notes: **

**Sorry for the long delay in this chapter everybody. Now that I am back at uni these delays will become more and more frequent. Rest assured I still fully intend to finish this story and we still have a long way to go. But first some explanations.**

**Yes this chapter was one long drone of back-story and exposition that I just felt had to be gotten out of the way now instead of later. I felt that a reason how the Master tied into everything needed to be given. So I created one.**

**In terms of the whole "H P Lovecraft mythos" thing Dagomon in the anime was meant to be based on Cthulhu so i thought I would just make that connection. Here though he only has loose ties to Lovecraft and will probably not be mentioned again.**

**The balance between light and dark and everything having an equal and opposite I had formed a while back before I began writing this story. Once I joined I have found out that other people have had the same idea and written some pretty good stories.**

**The demon lords were also a huge part of the original story plan and they will come into focus later on in the story. There are several good stories involving them on the site too if you are interested.**

**So with that I will say good bye for now with the promise that the next chapter will be coming as soon as I finish it.**

**Please review.**


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